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"I have yet to meet a single person who believes, or 

even pretends to believe, that a single honest motive 
has animated the proceedings of your antagonists 

—Letter of tol. Roosevelt to Governor Sulxer. 



"I refused to listen to the tempters, and resolved to 
go forward with the work for decent _ citizenship and 
honest government— come weal or woe/' 

—Letter of Gov. Sulzer to Col. Roosevelt. 




jr/^"tu^ •j*-^^ Ur^ ^ux^w^yo-v^-^— I 



) 



THE BOSS, OR 
THE GOVERNOR 



THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GREATEST 

POLITICAL CONSPIRACY IN THE 

HISTORY OF AMERICA 



By 
Samuel Bell Thomas 




1914 

THE TRUTH PUBLISHING CO. 

New York 






Copyright, 1914 
SAMUEL BELL THOMAS 



JUN 26 t9l4 

©CIA376462 

^0/ 



-r^' 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

William Sulzer Frontispiece 

Page 

Chester C. Piatt 5 

Col. Alexander S. Bacon 15 

The Author and the Governor 47 

Samuel Friedman 61 

Wm. Sulzer — The Constitutional Governor 74 

The Governor and the Pretender 96 

The Treason of Tammany 119 

Shall the People Rule ? 131 

The Delmonico Conspiracy 151 

The Governor's Last Meeting with the Chief 171 

More Power to This People's Governor 271 

"Impeaching Sulzer" 301 

How Murphy "Impeached" Sulzer 341 

The Triumph of the System 381 

Doomed 405 

Murphy Seeing Things 433 



-• • 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

Preface 1 

Introduction 3 

By Chester C. Platt 

CHAPTER n 

A Short Sketch of Governor William Sulzer 13 

By Col. Alexander S. Bacon 

CHAPTER HI 
Mr. Sulzer's Brilliant Record 46 

CHAPTER IV 

The Constructive Record of Mr. Sulzer's Eighteen Years 

in Congress 50 

CHAPTER V 
Congressman Sulzer's Remarkable Record 53 

CHAPTER VI 
Sulzer's Record as a Member of Congress 57 

CHAPTER VII 
Sulzer the Unspoiled Public Servant 64 



CHAPTER VIII 
The Truth About Wm. Sulzer 68 

CHAPTER IX 
The Truth About the Trial of Gov. Wm. Sulzer 72 



CHAPTER X 

Mr. Sulzer's Speech of Acceptance as the Democratic 

Candidate for Governor 78 



CHAPTER XI 
Mr. Sulzer's Great Campaign for Governor 89 

CHAPTER XII 

At First Mr. Sulzer Tried Hard to be at Peace with 

Mr. Murphy 95 

CHAPTER XIII 
The Boss C. F. Murphy 105 

CHAPTER XIV 
Graft! Graft! Graft!. 109 

CHAPTER XV 
Road Fund Looters 123 

CHAPTER XVI 
Graft in the Prisons 133 

CHAPTER XVII 
Legislative Graft 143 



CHAPTER XVni 
War with Mtirphy and Tammany IW 

CHAPTER XIX 

Murphys War on Gov. Sulzer in Light ©f Actoal 

Developments •* • • • ^^^ 

CHAPTER XX 

"What is Greatness?" 
Speech of Gov. Sulzer at Executive Chamber March 31, 

1913 173 

CHAPTER XXI 

"Patriotism" 

Speech of Gov. Sulzer at the Unveiling of the Mame 
Monument .v 175 

CHAPTER XXII 

Gov. Sulzer's Remarks to a Delegation of the Hudson 

Valley Loyal Order of Moose 178 

CHAPTER XXIII 
Speech on Fire Prevention, April 2, 1913"^ 180 

CHAPTER XXIV 

Speech of Gov. Sulzer at the Dinner to Celebrate las 

Fiftieth Birthday 183 

CHAPTER XXV 



Gov. Sulzer's Speech on Political Independence at Albany, 

March 25, 1913 185 



CHAPTER XXVI 
Gov. Sulzer's Fight for the Full Crew Law 195 



CHAPTER XXVII 
Gov. Sulzer Drives Boss Barnes from the Capitol 211 

CHAPTER XXVIII 
Justice to Our Negro Soldiers 213 

CHAPTER XXIX 
Gov. Sulzer's Veto of the Foley-Walker Act 215 

CHAPTER XXX 

Mr. Sulzer's Great Fight to Compel Honest Dealings on 

the New York Stock Exchange 218 

CHAPTER XXXI 

* 

Governor Sulzer Frustrates the Attempt to Inject Religion 

into the Public Schools 231 

CHAPTER XXXII 

Mr. Sulzer's Successful Efforts to Repeal the Notorious 

Charter of the Long Sault Development Company 233 

CHAPTER XXXIII 
Mr. Sulzer's Great Fight for Direct Primaries 237 

CHAPTER XXXIV 
Sulzer's Ringing Veto of the Fake Primary Bill 246 

CHAPTER XXXV 

"Why I am for Direct Primaries." Speech of Governor 

Sulzer in Buffalo, May 19, 1913 253 

CHAPTER XXXVI 
Speech of Gov. Sulzer at Corning, N. Y., May 20, 1913 259 



CHAPTER XXXVII 

Address of Governor Sulzer at Elmira College, May 21, 

1913 266 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 
"What arc You Going to do About it ?" 272 

CHAPTER XXXIX 
"Shall the People Rule" 275 

CHAPTER XL 

Remarks of Governor Sulzer in the Executive Chamber, 
Albany. N. Y., June 23, 1913, on the bill for Direct 
Primaries 282 

CHAPTER XLI 
Governor Sulzer's Last Message on Direct Primaries 287 

CHAPTER XLII 

Governor Sulzer's Speech in the Executive Chamber, July 

22, 1913 295 

CHAPTER XLIII 
Mr. Sulzer's Great Fight Against the Grafters 299 

CHAPTER XLIV 
Report on the Great Meadow Prison 302 

CHAPTER XLV 
Sulzer, Hennessy and the Road Grafters 309 



CHAPTER XLVI 

Presentment of the Rockland County Grand Jury on the 

Highway Frauds 321 



CHAPTER XLVH 
Sulzer's Last Meeting with the Boss 334 

CHAPTER XLVHI 
The Delmonico Conference 389 

CHAPTER XLIX 
The GoTcrnor's Last Message to the Legislature 338 

CHAPTER L 
Sulzer, Murphy and the People of New York 337 

CHAPTER LI 
The Bosses' Reasons for the Governor's Removal 344i 

CHAPTER LH 
The Paradox of Sulzer, the Triumph of Duty 351 

CHAPTER LHI 
An Analysis of the Sulzer Case 354 

CHAPTER LIV 
Gov. Sulzer's Denial of Frawley Charges ". . 369 

CHAPTER LV 

Gov. Sulzer's Reply to Martin H. Glynn Refusing to Sur- 
render the Governorship 371 



CHAPTER LVI 
Who Got the Money ? 374 

CHAPTER LVH 

Col. Henry V\[atterson's Leading Editorial in the Louis- 
ville Courier-Journal 375 

CHAPTER LVni 
Honesty First Mark of Mr. Sulzer 378 

CHAPTER LIX 
The People's House or Fourteenth Street 382 

CHAPTER LX 
The Assembly Roll Call — The Record of Dishonor 384 

CHAPTER LXI 
The Sulzer Trial a Disgraceful Political Farce 388 

CHAPTER LXH 
The Murphy Charges Against the Governor in a Nutshell. . 392 

CHAPTER LXHI 
Quack Justice in Albany 399 

CHAPTER LXIV 
Gov. Sulzer Says His Removal Was a Political Lynching.. 401 

CHAPTER LXV 
Sulzer Nominated and Elected to Assembly 404 



CHAPTER LXVI 
Mr. Sulzer's Speech in Hennington Hall 408 

CHAPTER LXVn 
Col. Theodore Roosevelt's Letter to Gov. Wm. Sulzer 417 

CHAPTER LXVni 
Shall We Do Our Duty? 440 

CHAPTER LXIX 
The Court of Last Resort 446 

CHAPTER LXX 
Why Gov. Sulzer did not Testify in the Murphy Court 451 

CHAPTER LXXI 
Watchman, What of the Night 454 



THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 

It is the custom of authors to give by way of preface 
the reasons for the book they write and ask the pubUc 
to read. 

There are three reasons for this book: 

First : Truth. 

Second : Law. 

Third: Justice — "And for Justice, all seasons sum- 
mer and all places a Temple." 

The removal of Governor William Sulzer marked the 
zenith of the arrogance and the brutality of corrupt boss- 
ism in New York State. Up to this time political bosses 
had controlled party organizations ; they had commanded 
legislatures and administrative officers of the state gov- 
ernment ; they had nominated, for a consideration, jus- 
tices of the supreme court, but it remained for Charles 
F. Murphy, the reigning boss of his period, to impeach 
a governor because that governor refused to do the 
bidding of the boss. 

In that respect, and for many other reasons, the re- 
moval of Governor Sulzer is without a parallel in his- 
tory — since civilized government began. 

It is one of the crises in human affairs, an event of 
epochal importance in the evolution of popular govern- 
ment. Only the perspective, which time and vision cre- 
ate, can reveal its tremendous significance. 

It is doubtful whether any executive of New York 
State ever accomplished so much of permanent good to 
the public as did William Sulzer by his courageoas and 
unswerving assault upon graft and bossism during the 
seven and a half months he was permitted to exercise 
the functions of the office. 

History will record that William Sulzer proved faith- 



2 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

ful to his trust while he was governor. He was the 
powerful instrument during that brief and interrupted 
term to strike the fatal blow to a political oligarchy, and 
to inaugurate a new era of freedom in the state gov- 
ernment. 

Governor Sulzer immediately was the victim of a cor- 
rupt boss, but primarily he was the victim of the Invisi- 
ble Government — those sinister forces which stealthily 
and powerfully operated through the bosses. 

His fate was designed by his assailants to be a warn- 
ing forever to governors who dared to harbor any no- 
tions of independence. 

The future historian will say Mr. Sulzer was removed 
from office not because he was corrupt, but because he 
would not be dishonest. 

Samuel Bell Thomas. 



The Boss, or the 
Governor 



CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTION 

By Chester C. Platt, Former Secretary to Gov- 
ernor SULZER. 

The removal of William Sulzer, Governor of New 
York State, marked an epoch in the history of the 
commonwealth. Corrupt political bossism had shown 
amazing power in many ways, in many states, but never 
in such a startling manner as in the removal from office 
of a duly elected governor of the greatest state in the 
Union. 

Mr. Sulzer was elected by a plurality of over 205,000, 
the largest ever given to a gubernatorial candidate. His 
administration had won popular approval, and when the 
impeachment resolution was passed in the assembly, Gov- 
ernor Sulzer was stronger with the rank and file of the 
voters of the state than he was on election day. 

In the fall of 1912, when the defeat of the Democratic 
Party seemed impending, owing to the popularity 
of Oscar S. Straus, the leaders of the Democratic Party 
turned to William Sulzer, who had won such nota- 
ble victories in the Tenth Congressional District, in New 
York City, and nominated him for governor. He not only 



4 THE BOSS, -OR 

saved the party from defeat, but led it to a triumphant 
victory, and Woodrow Wilson, for President, carried the 
state by a vote almost as large as that given to Mr. 
Sulzer. 

And then what startling events followed ! No sooner 
was William Sulzer made governor than it at once ap- 
peared that he meant what he had said in his campaign 
speeches, when he declared that if elected governor he 
would be THE Governor, and that he never had a boss, 
and that he never would have one. Not such a startling 
utterance to come from a candidate for public office ; but 
it was surprising to many w4io did not thoroughly know 
the man, that the implied promise in this utterance was 
faithfully carried out by Mr. Sulzer. And it was carried 
out, although to do so Mr. Sulzer often calmly sat and 
looked political death in the face, and although carrying 
out the promise brought attacks from Charles F. Murphy, 
the State boss, calculated to ruin Mr. Sulzer's reputation 
and to drive him in disgrace from public life. 

Yet none of these things moved him, nor tempted him, 
to depart from his steadfast purpose to be the people's, 
and not the bosses' governor. 

He was determined to administer the duties of his high 
office; to promote all the reforms so much needed; to 
remedy the corrupt political conditions of the times — re- 
forms in line with those for which he had been struggling 
during eighteen years of faithful service to the people in 
the halls of Congress — reforms calculated to make easier 
the hard and cruel conditions surrounding the life of the 
wage-earners of our great cities — reforms calculated to 
curb the power of avaricious wealth, gained by grinding 
the faces of the poor, of wealth accummulated through 
evasions of law, of wealth piled up, mountain high, 
through the insidious passage of laws granting special 
privileges to the few, at the cost of the many — of re- 
forms calculated to abolish political, economic and social 
injustice, to give uplift and succor to the friendless poor, 



THE GOVERNOR 




CHESTER C. PLATT 
Progressive Democrat. Editor of the Batavia Times. 
Former Secretary to Governor Sulzer. 



6 THE BOSS, OR 

to give to the world's workers a fair share of the wealth 
they produce, that the homes of the honest toilers of our 
land may be the homes of happiness and plenty, and not 
homes of poverty and squalor. 

"To make a happy hearthside clime to weans and wife, 
''That's the true pathos and sublime of human life." 

How often had these immortal words of Burns been 
quoted by William Sulzer in his pleas for social justice, 
for conditions of employment uphfting and not degrad- 
ing, for wages enabling the toiler to give to his loved 
ones some of the comforts as well as the bare necessities 
of existence; for remuneration that may place some 
adornments in the homes of the wage-workers ; that may 
place some good books and magazines by the fireside; 
that may give him some hours of leisure to enjoy the 
pleasures of home, or to go to theatre, lecture or concert, 
and that may also give him that which is dearer to the 
human heart than all else, the opportunity to give his 
children a better education, a better training, and a better 
start in life than he had himself, in the years gone by. 

Mr. Sulzer's career in Congress has demonstrated the 
truth of this characterization. He was the author of 
measures to grant liberal pensions to the old soldiers ; to 
increase the pay of letter-carriers; to curb trusts and mo- 
nopolies ; to place government close to the people through 
the direct election of United States senators; to reduce 
tariff taxes ; to provide an income tax ; to establish postal 
savings banks, the parcel post, and to create a de- 
partment of labor, with a secretary having a seat in the 
Cabinet. He showed himself the friend of the'poor and 
oppressed of all nations by his resolutions of sympathy 
for the Cuban patriots, for the oppressed Jews in Russia, 
for the abrogation of the Russian treaty, and for the rec- 
ognition of the Chinese republic. 

Therefore, when Mr. Sulzer went to Albany and be- 



THE GOVERNOR "7 

came governor none of those who knew him best were 
surprised that a battle against grafters and corrupt boss- 
ism was begun. It was this battle, coupled with his de- 
termination to secure the enactment of measures that 
would give the people of the state an opportunity to 
nominate all candidates for offices that aroused the vin- 
dictive hatred of all the bosses of the state. 

Muttered warnings of hostility were heard when the 
governor refused military pageantry at the inauguration 
ceremonies. 

The threat direct came in Murphy's message, "Gaffney 
or war" — a message meaning that a state highway com- 
missioner was to be appointed who would be indulgent 
to such men as Bart Dunn, the Tammany Hall member 
of the state committee, and William H. Whyard, the dem- 
ocratic boss of Rockland county, who were both indicted 
for highway frauds. 

There were warnings which preceded the threat direct 
when the governor removed Hoefer for frauds in the 
state architect's department, and Superintendent Scott for 
corruption in the Prison Department, and thus took the 
first step which resulted in twelve indictments in connec- 
tion with Great Meadow Prison, and five indictments in 
connection with the management of Sing Sing Prison. 

There were more warnings when the governor removed 
C. Gordon Reel, of the highway department, and just in 
the nick of time to prevent the letting of a big bunch of 
bonanza highway contracts. 

It grew more vindictive when the governor refused to 
turn the public service commissions over to the railroads 
by appointing George M. Palmer, Packey McCabe, and 
John Galvin to the commissions. To remove the gov- 
ernor from office was fully determined upon when he 
appointed a practical railroad man and a union wage 
worker as a member of the Public Service Commis- 
sion, and sierned the Full Crew bill. 

William Sulzer was governor of New York State for 



8 THE BOSS, OR 

only nine months, but they were months big with accom- 
phshments. During the three quarters of a year that 
he occupied the governor's chair, in pursuance of the ad- 
vice of the best authorities in the field of sanitary science, 
the governor secured the passage of a bill reorganizing 
the public health department and increasing its efficiency 
to a degree that promises to check preventable diseases, 
prolong human life, and greatly increase the general 
health of the people. 

The governor secured the passage of a bill reorganizing 
the labor department, which John Mitchell declared will 
make that department the most efficient and helpful to 
wage earners of any labor department of any state in the 
Union. 

The governor started a movement to reform prison 
management, to reform our banking laws, and our laws 
relating to taxation. It is needless to say that none of 
these things won any approval from Charles F. Murphy, 
nor his manikins of the court of impeachment. They 
should have been particularly interested in the movement 
to make our prisons more decent, but they were not ; they 
were concentrating all their endeavors to prevent grand 
jury investigations, from Lake Erie to Long Island — in- 
vestigations which promised to greatly augment the over- 
crowded condition of the prisons of the state. 

The Governor was not charged with wrong doing in 
office, except in trying to secure the passage of his bill 
for direct primaries to destroy boss rule. 

It was not claimed at the time of the impeachment that 
corruption existed then in any department of the state, 
except the department of public works, and it was known 
that evidence for a grand jury investigation of this de- 
partment had then been obtained by a commissioner ap- 
pointed by the governor for this purpose, and that ex- 
cept for the starting of the impeachment proceedings the 
removal of Duncan W. Peck, the head of the department, 
would have been made. 



THE GOVERNOR 9 

It was not claimed that directly, or indirectly, the 
Governor had connived at corruption in any department 
or office of the state. It was not charged that the 
Governor had violated any law, in the slightest degree, 
in any official acts. 

On the contrary it was his integrity, his incorruptibility 
and his refusal to turn the state over to grafters, coupled 
with his efforts to send the grafters to prison, that led to 
the impeachment proceedings. He sacrificed himself and 
his official career in an endeavor to save the state from 
civic pollution. 

His jury was packed ; his trial was a farce. A large 
proportion of the members of that court, although in 
form selected by the people, yet, in reality, were placed 
where they were by the appointment of the Governor's 
arch enemies, Charles F. Murphy, William H. Fitz- 
patrick and William Barnes. 

In violation of the law, and of common sense, the gov- 
ernor's vindictive accusers, who had declared him guilty 
before the trial began, were allowed to sit as his judges, 
and to join in the issuance of a verdict which they 
determined should be rendered before a word of testi- 
mony had been taken. With these men admitted as 
duly accredited members of the court, ready at every 
executive session to attack the governor, what a travesty 
it was for the presiding judge to warn members of the 
court, after the testimony had all been taken, that they 
should not discuss the case with anyone outside their 
own numbers. 

No wonder that even that conservative newspaper, the 
Boston Transcript, declared that "not since the days of 
King John has there been a greater travesty of justice 
than was presented by the composition of the New York 
court of impeachment." The governor was in fact de- 
prived of the right which is accorded the meanest criminal 
in a jury trial — the right to an unprejudiced court. Preju- 
dice, vindictiveness and political hatred were all deeply 



10 THE BOSS, OR 

rooted in the composition of the court of impeachment, 
which, according to all established standards of justice, 
should have been impartial. 

With regard to questionable evidence, unfavorable to 
the governor, the court adopted the convenient theory, 
most agreeable to the governor's enemies, that the evi- 
dence sliould be received, and go on record, but the valid- 
ity of it was not to be determined until the close of the 
trial. The principle of this ruling, however, was not fol- 
lowed with respect to proffered testimony in the gov- 
ernor's favor, which would have been given by John A. 
Hennessy, Samuel A. Beardsley, John N. Carlisle, and 
others; ; 

The prosecution was permitted to roam at will, and go 
on all sorts of fishing expeditions, but the governor's law- 
yers were promptly checked when they sought to intro- 
duce evidence contradicting this questionable testimony. 

To impeach an official for alleged offenses committed 
before he assumes the duty of the office, was in violation 
of all law and precedent. Furthermore, the court was 
without proper jurisdiction to try the governor on the 
impeachment resolutions passed at an extraordinary ses- 
sion of the legislature. The Constitution plainly says : 

"At extraordinary sessions no subject shall be acted 
upon except such as the governor may recommend for 
consideration." 

The attorneys for the prosecution were unable to ex- 
plain away the plain meaning of these words to the 
average citizen of the state. 

During his short career as governor Mr. Sulzer made 
a peculiarly effectual appeal to the moral and religious 
sentiment of the state. After the verdict of the impeach- 
ment court, every mail brought testimonials of confidence 
and esteem from ministers, teachers, and others^ who 
were devoting their lives to political, social and moral 
reforms. 

The country newspapers, throughout the state, de- 



THE GOVERNOR 11 

fended the Governor in their editorial columns. He re- 
ceived the support of such independent newspapers as 
the Albany Knickerbocker Press, the Albany Arg«s, the 
Troy Standard Press, the Troy Observer, the Rochester 
Herald, the Rochester Union and Advertiser, the Buffalo 
Courier, the Buffalo Inquirer, the Buffalo News, the El- 
mira Gazette, the New York Evening Mail, the New 
York Globe, and all the progressive papers in the state. 
Why the governor's case looked so differently to the 
editors of the New York Times, Sun, and World, I will 
not undertake to explain, except to say that the moral 
and intellectual standard of such editors as Albert Shaw, 
of the Review of Reviews, Lyman Abbott and Theodore 
Roosevelt of the Outlook, Henry W. Stoddard and James 
Creelman of the Evening Mail, will compare favorably 
with those of the editors of the daily newspapers of New 
York City that turned against the Governor about the 
time that he signed the full crew bill, and vetoed the 
McKee school bills. 

I have outlined the causes which led to Governor Sul- 
zer's expulsion from office by what will be known to 
future historians not as it was called at the time "the high 
court of Impeachment," but as ''Murphy's high court 
of infamy." 

Soon after the close of the trial, in a notable speech, 
delivered at the Broadway Theatre on Sunday, October 
26, Governor Sulzer uttered these imprsessive words : 

"The judgment of that court will not stand the test of 
time. The future historian will do me justice. There is 
a higher court than Murphy's — ^the court of public opin- 
ion. I appeal from Murph3^'s court of infamy to the 
calmer judgment of posterity." 

A few days after this Mr. Sulzer was elected a member 
of assembly, from, the sixth assembly district, of New 
York City, a district forming part of the tenth congres- 
sional district which he represented for many years at 
the national capital. He was elected by a majority of 



12 THE BOSS, OR 

almost three to one over all his competitors, in a 
campaign unparalleled in the history of New York, 
At every meeting at which he spoke he was given a 
great ovation. No halls could hold one-tenth of the 
people who turned out to do him honor. The streets 
were choked with people for blocks in the neighbor- 
meeting Mr. Sulzer, from his automobile, addressed, in 
hood of the meeting places. Before and after each 
the streets, thousands of cheering men and women. 

The campaign was a striking demonstration of the fact 
that the voters considered his impeachment a badge 
of honor. His election was a vindication. The ver- 
dict of the people reversed the verdict of Murphy's court, 
and William Sulzer has taken his place In history as one 
of the greatest, one of the most faithful, and one of the 
most courageous of New York's Governors — one of 
America's Great Reformers. 

Wm. Sulzer is a real Tribune of the People — a great 
man — a great Governor — a great Reformer — his place 
in the hearts of the masses is secure — his fame in the 
annals of his country will endure. All honor and all 
praise to this brave, farseeing, Godfearing public servant 
— who loved Right, and did not fear Might. 

Chester C. Platt. 



THE GOVERNOR 13 



CHAPTER n 

A SHORT SKETCH OF GOVERNOR WILLIAM 

SULZER 

By Colonel Alexander S. Bacon 

William Sulzer, the forty-first Governor of New York 
State, was born in an old brick house on Liberty Street, 
Elizabeth, New Jersey, on March 18, 1863. He is the 
second son of a family of seven children — five boys and 
two girls. 

Lydia Sulzer, his mother, was of Dutch and Scotch- 
Irish ancestry. Thomas Sulzer, his father, was born in 
Germany, and while a student at Heidelberg University, 
in 1848, joined the patriot army and fought to establish 
constitutional government. He was captured and put in 
prison, but made his escape to Switzerland — thence emi- 
grating to New York City in 1851. He married there, 
and the family afterward moved to Elizabeth, N. J., and 
subsequently bought a farm at Wheatsheaf, a suburb of 
the former place, where the son, William, aided in the 
farm work, until he went to New York to study law. 

William Sulzer was educated in the country school, 
and graduated from a grammar school in 1877. His 
parents desired him to study for the ministry, but he 
became interested in the legal profession and entered 
Columbia College Law School. He also studied law 
with Parrish and Pendleton in New York City. In 1884, 
at the age of twenty-one years, he was admitted to the 
practice of law at a General Term of the Supreme Court 
held in New York City, and at once opened a law office 
and began his life work as a lawyer. Early in his career 
he became a successful lawyer, and throughout his long 



14 THE BOSS, OR 

public service has been more or less engaged in the 
practice of his chosen profession. 

He first entered political life prominently during the 
Presidential campaign of 1884, which terminated in the 
election of Grover Cleveland as President. Mr. Sulzer 
upon this occasion was one of the campaign speakers of 
the Democratic National Committee. Ever since 188-i 
he has participated actively in the speaking campaigns 
of the Democratic Party at each successive election. 

In 1889 Mr. Sulzer was elected an Assemblyman from 
the fourteenth Assembly district on an independent 
ticket, being then only twenty-six years of age, winning 
the election by a plurality of about 800 votes, his 
platform being that the Broadway railway franchise 
should not be granted in perpetuity to a private monopoly. 

He was re-elected to the Assembly in 1890, 1891, 1892 
and 1893, and each year by increased majorities. 

Soon after Mr. Sulzer's election to the Assembly he 
became widely known as an advocate of social, political 
and economic reforms, the chief among which were em- 
bodied in bills abolishing ''sweat shops"; providing free 
lectures for working people ; abolishing imprisonment for 
debt ; providing for a Constitutional Convention ; estab- 
lishing ''Freedom of Worship"; providing for the State 
care of the insane; for ballot reform; for the punish- 
ment of corrupt election practices; abolishing corporal 
punishment in the prisons ; limiting the hours of labor ; 
estabHshing a Saturday half holiday; providing for a 
weekly payment of wages ; establishing a woman's re- 
formatory; and for an epileptic colony. These bills, in- 
troduced and advocated by Mr. Sulzer, became laws. 

The "Freedom of Worship" bill gave to the inmate 
of any State institution the right to worship God ac- 
cording to the dictates of his conscience. Up to the 
passage of the "State Care Act" a large proportion of 
the insane people of the State whose relatives were too 
poor to have them cared for in private hospitals for 



THE GOVERNOR 



15 




COLONEL ALEXANDER S. BACON 
Prominent lawyer, and well-known citizen. Chairman 
of the Executive Committee of the American Party. 
One of Mr. Sulzer's counsel in the proceedings brought 
against the Governor by Tammany. 



»v*- 



16 THE BOSS, OR 

the insane were in charge of local authorities. The "State 
Care Act" placed all the hospitals in charge of the 
State government and greatly improved the means taken 
to restore the inmates of these hospitals to health. 

The title of the Saturday "half-holiday" act indi- 
cates the purpose of the measure — to give a longer 
period of rest for all w^orkers. The women's reforma- 
tory was a much needed institution, and since it was 
established has finely accomplished the aims of those 
who suggested it. The law providing for free lectures 
for workingmen and working women has developed 
since in New York City into its magnihcent lecture 
and musical entertainment system, where hundreds of 
lectures and musical entertainments are yearly given. 

Mr. Sulzer, as a member of the assembly, also intro- 
duced and persuaded the Legislature to pass a law for 
the Columbian Celebration in New York City ; a law 
codifying the statutes of the State; a law codifying the 
laws relating to the quarantine station ; a law opening 
Stuyvesant Park, New York City, to the use of the 
people; a law opening New York's greatest art gallery, 
the Metropolitan Aluseum of Art, to people on Sunday; 
a law providing a prevailing rate of wage for working 
people; a law for a State forest park; the law for the 
preservation of the x\dirondack forests ; a law for the 
protection of the head waters of the Hudson River and 
the conservation of the natural resources of New York 
State; a law for the completion of the State Capitol; a 
Constitutional amendment for the enlargement of the 
State's canals ; a law establishing the Aquarium in New 
York City; a law establishing Bronx and Van Cort- 
landt parks in New York City ; the law establishing the 
great New York Public Library, with funds largely con- 
tributed by Ex-Governor Samuel J. Tilden ; and the law 
compelling the New York Central Railroad Company 
to ventilate and light the Fourth Avenue tunnel. 

Entering the Assembly as one of its youngest mem- 



THE GOVERNOR 17 

bers in 1890 he rapidly won fame and power and in- 
fluence, and was one of the leaders in 1892, the Demo- 
crats being in control of the body; Speaker of the As- 
sembly in 1893; and leader of the minority in 1894. 

As Speaker of the Assembly he gave the people one 
of the chanest, one of the most economical, and one 
of the shortest sessions of the Legislature in years. He 
was one of the fairest and most impartial presiding of- 
ficers in the history of the state. 

In 1891 ]\Ir. Sulzer declined a renomination to the 
Assembly, and was nominated for Congress by the 
Democratic party in the Tenth Congressional District, 
which then formed a part of New York County, on 
the "East Side" — a strong Republican bailiwick. That 
year there was a Republican "landslide" and the Demo- 
cratic party carried only five Congressional districts 
north of ]\Iason and Dixon's line. Three of these were 
in New York City and one was Mr. Sulzer 's district. 
Mr. Sulzer was elected by over 800 majority, although 
David B. Hill, the democratic candidate for Governor, 
lost the district by over 11,000. Two years later Mr. 
Sulzer, as a candidate for Congressman, was the only 
Democrat elected in his district, which he carried by 
three times the majority he received the first time he ran. 
This was the year of William J. Bryan's first campaign 
as a Democratic candidate for President, and although 
Mr. Sulzer was a staunch supporter of jMr. Bryan, the 
latter lost the Tenth Congress District by over 17,000 
votes while ^Ir. Sulzer carried it by over 1,400. Four 
vears later Mr. McKinley, running against Mr. Bryan 
the second time, carried the Tenth Congress District 
by 11,000, while Mr. Sulzer was elected by over 5,000. 
In 1906 :\Ir. Sulzer carried the district by over 11,000, 
receiving seventy-five per cent, of the entire vote cast. 
He is the only Democrat who has ever been able to 
carry the old Tenth District since Cleveland carried it 
for President in 1892. 



18 THE BOSS, OR 

For eighteen years Mr. Sulzer was a member of Con- 
gress. In that period he was the author of more than 
twenty-five distinct bills embodying progressive legisla- 
tion. One law passed provided for the raising of the 
battleship Maine; a second law provided a light for the 
Statue of Liberty in New York harbor; a third law 
increased the pay of the letter carriers of the country. 
One of the chief laws framed and pressed by him, created 
the Bureau of Corporations — by which the anti-trust 
laws have since been enforced. He was the author of 
and succeeded in passing a pension law for the orphans 
and widows of the deceased soldiers and sailors of the 
Union army. He introduced the bill to regulate the 
interstate commerce railroads; the bill in behalf of vic- 
tims of the disaster to the steamboat "General Slocum" ; 
a bill to restore the merchant marine by giving prefer- 
ential duties to American ships; a bill for federal ail 
in the construction of good national roads ; a bill to 
reduce the tariff, especially on goods, wares and mer- 
chandise manufactured in the United States and sold 
cheaper in foreign countries than here; a bill placing 
on the free list meat, wood pulp, coal, lumber and white 
print paper ; a bill to establish postal savings banks ; a 
bill to establish a Department of Transportation ; a bill 
to improve the Foreign Consular and diplomatic service ; 
and a bill prohibiting the sailing of any ship from the 
United States unless equipped with safety devices. 

He introduced and secured the passage of a resolu- 
tion expressing sympathy with the Cuban patriots ; the 
resolution of sympathy for the Boers in their heroic 
struggle to maintain their independence ; the resolution 
of sympathy with oppressed Russian Jews ; and the reso- 
lution abrogating the treaty with Russia, because that 
government refused to accept passports issued to Jewish 
citizens of this country. He also introduced and secured 
the passage of a resolution congratulating the people of 
China on the establishment of a republic. 



THE GOVERNOR 19 

Mr. Sulzer wielded a large influence in Congress, espe- 
cially when he became Chairman of the House Commit- 
tee on Foreign Affairs. He steadily opposed intervention 
in the affairs of Mexico. He stood firmly for peace, 
and became the eloquent champion of the rights of 
Latin America. He was the author of the resolution 
to abrogate the Russian treaty of 1832, already referred 
to. It was passed by a vote of 300 to 1 — a memorable 
victory for the rights of American citizens. 

A resolution of which he was the author provided for 
an investigation of the corrupt sale of the New York 
Custom House ; he started the movement for the election 
of United States Senators by the direct vote of the 
people ; originated the income tax amendment to the 
United States Constitution ; brought about the abroga- 
tion of the Russian Treaty; and the establishment of the 
parcels post. 

We give here two short speeches on matters of national 
moment — one delivered by Mr. Sulzer in the House of 
Representatives on the 27th of February, 1909. The bill 
to do justice to the negro soldiers was before the Con- 
gress. Mr. Sulzer took the floor and delivered the fol- 
lowing eloquent address : 

Mr. Sulzer said : 

"Mr. Speaker: I am in favor of doing justice to the 
negro soldiers of the Twenty-fifth U. S. Infantry. I 
want to give these men their day in court. They are 
entitled to this. They never have had an oppor- 
tunity to prove their innocence. If one be guilty let 
him be punished, but the innocent should be re-enlisted 
in the army and given all their rights and emoluments. 

"The innocent should not be punished for the guilty. 
I voted in favor of this bill in the Committee on 
Military Affairs, and I shall vote to pass it through 
the House. No fair-minded man can consistently op- 
pose this measure. It is honest and it is just. 

"It will be justice to the innocent men. If we fail 



20 THE BOSS, OR 

to do justice in this case, we will be false to ourselves 
and false to every principle that we revere. If we 
refuse to do justice to the colored soldiers who are 
innocent, we will violate every tenet of our boasted 
love of fair play. In my opinion, if this bill becomes 
a law, no guilty man will be able to re-enlist in the 
army, and no innocent man should be prevented from 
doing so. 

"I have no race prejudice where justice is concerned. 
I want to say that I am now, and always have been, and 
I trust always will be, in favor of equal and exact justice 
to all men — here and everywhere throughout the world 
— without regard to race or to creed. 

"We must do justice in this matter. We cannot do 
less without stultifying ourselves and bringing our 
free institutions into strange contrast w^ith our per- 
formances. I want to see justice done, and I hope 
the bill wall pass. It is never too late to do justice. 
'For justice all seasons summer, and all places a 
temple.' " 

On December 18, 1905, Mr. Sulzer, speaking on his 
resolution, delivered the following eloquent tribute to 
the Jews : 

''Air. Speaker: I arraign Russia before the' bar of 
civilization for great crimes against a common hu- 
manity. The Russian government is responsible for 
these outrages on the Jews. 

''Why should we refrain from aiding the Jew in 
Russia? I say, in my judgment, it is the duty of our 
government to condemn these Jewish atrocities and 
to protest against these unspeakable crimes against 
the Jewish people in Russia in words that^cannot be 
misunderstood, and I believe that if we do, that if 
we pass this resolution, that it will have the desired 
result and effectively put a stop to the Jewish out- 
rages, atrocities and massacres in Russia. Tliat right 
we have; let us exercise it. It w^ill be a declaration 



THE GOVERNOR 21 

to the Czar, and to the grand dukes, who are directly 
responsible for these crimes, that the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States sympathizes with the 
Russian Jews the same as we would with any other 
outraged and oppressed people, and that we are op- 
posed to these race crimes, and that the ruthless ex- 
termination of the Jews in Russia must cease. If this 
is all we can do, let us do it, and do it quickly; and I 
believe that if we do, our protest will be heard in 
St. Petersburg and that the Russian government will 
quickly see to it that the wholesale butchery of Jewish 
communities is stopped. Wt cannot ignore these 
crimes against humanity. We cannot escape our re- 
sponsibility. These innocent victims are our brothers 
and our sisters — mankind throughout the world are 
one. A continuing crime against one race is the con- 
cern of all the other races. 

*'My heart goes out to the ravished and plundered 
and oppressed Jews in Russia. I grieve with those 
who grieve for the dead. I sympathize with the liv- 
ing and the terror-stricken. I have enlisted with all 
my soul in their cause, and in Congress and out 'of 
Congress I shall do all that I can to aid them to 
ameliorate their condition. I am not a bigot. I care 
naught for creed. I have no race prejudice. I stand 
for humanity, and a man is a man, for all that, to me. 
I have struggled all my life to help those who needed 
help, to do something to better the conditions of the 
poor and the humble, to aid oppressed humanity in 
every land and In every clime, and to raise the lowly 
to a higher plane and push them forward a step In 
the march of civilization. 

"T am a friend of the Jews. It is, however, unneces- 
sary for me, or any one else to eulogize the Intrepid 
sons and the virtuous daughters of Israel. The Jew 
needs no eulogy. All he asks Is justice. All he de- 
mands is equal opportunity and equality before the 



22 THE BOSS, OR 

law. The records of his race from the dawn of time 
down to the present day is the history of the march 
of humanity along the highways of progress and the 
avenues of civilization. In all ages of the world the 
ostracized Jew has done his share for his fellowman, 
for enlightenment, for liberty, for freedom, for progress 
and for civilization — and he has done it all in the face 
of adverse circumstances. In science and in art, in 
literature and philanthropy, the Jew, in all lands and 
in all times, has written his name high in the temple 
of fame. In statesmanship and diplomacy, in law and 
in medicine, in ethics and philosophy, in research and 
discovery, the greatness of the Jew is and ever has 
been unchallenged. In commerce and in trade, in 
industry and husbandry, overcoming forces that would 
deter another, he has held his own in the vanguard of 
progress. Persecuted for thousands of years, he has 
surmounted all obstacles ; shunned for centuries, he 
has kept in the very front of the higher and the better 
civilization. In trial and in triumph, in sunshine and 
in storm, in war and in peace, on land and on sea, in 
all eras and in all places, the Jewish race has written 
its enduring name and its eternal fame all over the 
pages of human history." 

Foremost among the achievements of Mr. Sulzer's 
career in Congress was the passage in the House dur-- 
ing the session of 1912 of his bill establishing a De- 
partment of Labor with a Secretary in the Cabinet. 
Smiled at as a preposterous idea ten years ago, this 
bill finally passed the lower House unanimously. Its 
passage in the Senate followed. 

The signing of this Department of Lal5or bill was 
the last official act of President Taft, and he did so on 
the personal appeal of Mr. Sulzer. The bill was first 
introduced by Mr. Sulzer in 1904, and was reintro- 
duced and advocated by him in every Congress since 
that time. In support of the measure, on one occasion, 



THE GOVERNOR 23 

he thus addressed the House of Representatives : 

'*Mr. Speaker : My bill for a department of labor is a 
meritorious measure and it should be a law. It is the 
first bill ever introduced in Congress to create a Depart- 
ment of Labor. It is the first attempt to systematically 
classify labor in an intelligent way that has ever been 
presented in a bill in Congress, and its enactment into 
law will evidence a disposition on the part of the Gov- 
ernment to see to it that labor gets full recognition, 
the dignity of having a voice in the councils of State, 
and the opportunity to have its claims dispassionately 
discussed. Give labor this boom and the 'labor ques- 
tion' will be reduced to the minimum. 

*'The expense of maintenance of the Department of 
Labor will practically be but little more than the ex- 
pense for the maintenance of the various bureaus at 
the present time. These bureaus will all be in the 
Department of Labor. I do not think anyone will take 
exception to the bill on the ground that it is going to 
increase the expenses of the Government. A few 
thousand dollars in a matter of so much moment will 
be of little consequence. I believe that if this bill were 
on the statute books to-day it would be a long step 
toward better social, economical, and commercial con- 
ditions ; a progressive advance along the avenues of 
industrial peace ; that it would go far to allay jeal- 
ousy, establish harmony, promote the general welfare, 
make the employer and employee better friends, pre- 
vent strikes, lockouts, blacklists, boycotts, and busi- 
ness paralysis, and every year save millions and mil- 
lions of dollars of losses which necessarily result 
therefrom. 

"Capital as well as labor should favor this Depart- 
ment of Labor, because it will go far to solve the labor 
problem and bring about industrial peace. For years 
this legislation has been advocated by the wage-earn- 
ers of the country. The bill meets with their appro- 



24 THE BOSS, OR 

bation and has the approval of the best thought in our 
land. It has been indorsed by some of the ablest 
thinkers, some of the wisest political economists, and 
many of our leading newspapers. The time is ripe, it 
seems to me, for the creation of a Department of 
Labor with a secretary having a seat in the Cabinet, 
with all the rights and powers conferred by this bill. 
It will bring labor and capital closer together, and one 
is dependent on the other. They should be friends — 
not enemies — and walk hand in hand in the march 
along the paths of mutual prosperity. This bill, if it 
becomes a law, will go far to prevent serious labor 
troul^les in the future, do much to solve existing labor 
problems, and every friend of industrial peace should 
aid in its enactment. The employers of labor, as well 
as the employees themselves, whether they belong to 
trades unions or not, are all, so far as I have been 
able to ascertain, in accord with the principles of this 
progressive legislation and heartily approve of this 
bill."" 

It was not until 1012, however, that i\Ir. Sulzer suc- 
ceeded in having the bill favorably reported, and when 
it came before the House it passed without a dissent- 
ing vote. 

After \lr. Sulzer's election as Governor he returned 
to Washington and spent about three weeks in Con- 
gress — partly for the purpose of urging the passage 
in the Senate of his bill creating a Department of 
Labor. It passed the Senate the latter part of Feb- 
ruary, 1913. 

For two weeks prior to its passage friends of the 
measure were in frequent communication with Gov- 
ernor Sulzer reporting its progress. On its passage 
the Governor exchanged several telegrams and letters 
wdth President Taft, urging him to give the measure 
his official approval. In the Senate the bill was 
slightly amended which made necessary its repassage 



THE GOVERXOR 25 

in the House, where it was in charge of Mr. Sulzer's 
friend, Congressman William B. Wilson, who has been 
made Secretary of Labor by President Wilson. 

Mr. Sulzer's bill provides for three assistant Secre- 
taries of Labor, the work of the Department being 
divided as follows: IManiifacturing and agricultural 
industries, building of highways and transportation in- 
dustries, including the telephone and telegraph busi- 
ness; and the building and mercantile industries. 

Each of the principal divisions of the Department of 
Labor will have a Bureau of Statistics to collect and 
report at least once each year as to the conditions of 
labor in each of the different industries. Special 
attention will also be given to the collection and pub- 
lication of statistics regarding the unemployed. 

One prime object of the new Department of Labor 
will be the establishment of Boards of Arbitration and 
Conciliation to prevent strikes, as well as to prevent 
labor disturbances among employees or corporations 
doing an interstate commerce business. 

Mr. Sulzer's record in Congress is a monument to 
his indefatigable industry, and the enactment of pro- 
gressive legislation along constructive lines. 

In January, 1908, Mr. Sulzer married Miss Clara 
Rodelheim, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Mrs. Sulzer is as 
democratic and as popular with the people as her dis- 
tinguished husband. 

Air. Sulzer was elected Governor on November 5, 
1912, by a plurality^ of 505,454, which was the largest 
plurality ever given in the State of New York for any 
candidate for Governor. He received 649,559 votes as 
the Democratic candidate, while Job E. Hedges, Re- 
publican, received 444,105, and Oscar S. Straus, Pro- 
gressive, 393,183. Mr. Sulzer's large plurality was the 
more remarkable since ]\Ir. Straus in his campaign 
declared for the reforms of which Mr. Sulzer for many 
years had been one of the leading advocates. 



26 THE BOSS, OR 

Tt will add to the interest of this character sketch o£ 
William Sulzer to describe some of his habits and re- 
count some of his sayings which reveal him as a Gov- 
ernor different in many respects from any who have 
held office before him. During the campaign which 
preceded his election he made few promises as to his 
future policies. One of his oft repeated epigrams was 
''An ounce of performance is worth a ton of promise." 
And he pointed out that his record of legislative 
achievement during five years at Albany and eighteen 
years at Washington gave the best forecast of what 
principles would certainly guide him in administering 
the office of Governor. "The record of the past," he 
said over and over again, "is the best guarantee for 
the future." 

In many of his speeches he said, "when I am elected 
Governor the latch-string of the door of the executive 
office at Albany will always be on the outside, and it 
will not be so high but that the lowliest can reach it, 
and the humblest citizen of the State may come to 
Albany and see the Governor and be treated with as 
much consideration as the richest and most powerful." 

This promise which caused smiles of incredulity 
with some who did not know the man who made the 
promise has been carried out with a faithfulness that 
has resulted in practices which have destroyed many 
official precedents and rules of official procedure; 
precedents and rules which have prevailed for many 
years. It has been in some administrations the rule 
that few could see the Governor except through an 
appointment made with the secretary and to make 
such an appointment was often difficult. Only persons 
of distinction could get an appointment without first 
stating the object of their visit and many who wished 
to make such engagements were unable to show satis- 
factory evidence that they themselves, or the subject 



THE GOVERNOR 27 

of their visit, were of sufficient importance to merit a 
personal interview with the Chief Executive. 

Since Mr. Sulzer has been Governor all this is 
changed. Man, woman or child, black or white, rich or 
poor, high or low, everyone who wants to see the 
Governor sees him and the richest and most powerful 
must wait and take their turn. This has caused some 
remonstrances to which the Governor only replies, 'T 
am a Democrat and must treat all alike." 

So the Governor sees all his visitors in the large 
reception room of the Executive Chamber. i\Iany have 
private conversations with him, seated by the side of 
his big desk. But there are no secret interviews in the 
so-called '''.back office." This is the Governor's work- 
shop where he needs only his stenographer. 

There was considerable comment when on Inaugu- 
ration Day the customary military parade was omitted 
and the Governor walked from the "People's House" 
to the Capitol to take the oath of office and deliver 
his inaugural address. 'T wish," wrote Governor 
Sulzer to the Secretary of State, "that all the ar- 
rangements for my inauguration be as simple, and 
as economical, and as democratic as possible." The 
simplicity which characterized the inaugural cere- 
monies has been paralleled in many ways in connection 
with the Governor's daily life. The Executive Man- 
sion has been rechristened "the People's House." 
The public was invited to the Legislative Reception 
and the attendance was the largest ever known. 
Albany newspapers declared that 10,000 persons were 
in attendance. 

The rule that the Governor must be attended when 
receiving visitors at the Executive Chamber by either 
his Military Secretary or his Private Secretary is 
ignored. So is the rule that on the street and at pub- 
lic functions one of his Secretaries shall always accom- 
pany him. Sometimes the Governor Is accompanied 



28 THE BOSS, OR 

and sometimes he is not. He prefers to go and 
come alone. Several times he has attended public 
dinners in the evening and afterward walked from the 
hotel where they were given to his home. The Gov- 
ernor always walks to and from the Capitol. His life 
and habits are simple in every way and democratic to 
the extreme. 

Not only does the Governor show his democratic 
impulses and his disposition to keep closely in touch 
with the common man by meeting personally as many 
of his constituents as possible, but he keeps up a large 
daily correspondence with persons from all parts of 
the State, wdiich makes his mail five times as volumi- 
nous as that of any of his predecessors, and he prizes 
highly not only letters of commendation, but also let- 
ters which contain words of counsel or criticism re- 
garding public policies, appointments made, and legis- 
lative measures advocated. 

Mr. Sulzer is progressive in his ideas ; takes a broad 
view of every question; has few prejudices, and those 
only against intrenched wrongs he wants to see 
remedied. In his eff,orts for a common humanity he 
knows no race, no creed, and no previous condition. 
He is for man — that is all. 

In his speech of acceptance. Governor Sulzer said: 
"I will go into ofhce without a promise except my 
promise to all the people to serve them faithfully and 
honestly and to the best of my ability. I am free, 
without entanglements, and shall remain free. If 
elected I shall follow the street called straight and the 
Executive Office will be in the Capitol. When I take 
the oath as Governor I shall enforce the laws fear- 
lessly and impartially, but with malice toward none. 
Those who know me best know that I stand firmly for 
certain fundamental principles — for liberty under 
law; for civil and religious freedom; for Constitu- 
tional government; for the old integrities and the new 



THE GOVERNOR 29 

humanities ; for equality before the law ; for equal 
rights to all and special privileges for none; for the 
cause that lacks assistance ; against the wrongs that 
need resistance ; and for unshackled opportunity as 
the beacon-light of individual hope and the best guar- 
antee for the perpetuity of our free institutions. No 
influence will control me but the influence of my con- 
science, and my determination to do my full duty to 
all the people, as God gives me the light." 

In his first annual message to the Legislature of 
1913, ]Mr. Sulzer said : 

**In view of the increasing expenditures in the ad- 
ministration of State affairs, mounting higher and 
higher each succeeding year, and necessarily imposing 
onerous burdens on our taxpayers, I recommend genu- 
ine retrenchment in every department of the State, to 
the end that expenditures be kept down to the mini- 
mum and taxation materially reduced. 

"Unless this is done in a systematic way additional 
methods must be devised to raise greater revenue. I 
am in sympathy with the oppressed taxpayers of our 
State and to the best of my ability will aid you in 
your efforts to lighten their burden. Nothing will 
gratify me more than to be able to say to the people 
when you adjourn that this Legislature was one of 
the most economical in the history of the State, and 
by its wisdom and economies wiped out every vestige 
of direct tax. 

"The way to stop waste and extravagance is to re- 
trench and economize. A cursory examination into 
State affairs convinces me that many expenditures can 
be stopped and efficiency promoted if every State 
officer will clean house, stop waste, and practice every 
economy consistent with good government and the 
orderly administration of public affairs. 

"Let us do our best, day in and day out, to save 
wherever it is possible, and make honesty and sim- 



30 THE BOSS, OR 

plicity, economy and efficiency, the watchwords of our 
administration of the people's business." 

The Governor also said in his annual message that 
many worthy citizens had suggested to him the ad- 
visability of examining, through a Committee of In- 
quiry, into every department of the State government 
to ascertain where expenditures could be checked and 
the money of the taxpayers saved. A few days later 
he appointed John N. Carlisle, of Watertown; John 
H. Delaney, of the Borough of Brooklyn, New York ; 
and H. Gordon Lynn, of the Borough of ^Manhattan, 
New York, a Committee of Inquiry, to examine and 
investigate the management and affairs of any and all 
departments, boards, bureaus or commissions in the 
State. Thus for the first time in the history of the 
State a Committee of Inquiry was established. The 
Committee in its initial work recommended a decrease 
in the proposed appropriations for certain depart- 
ments. It followed up this action by an exhaustive 
consideration of the sinking funds of the State, reach- 
ing the conclusion that there had been an excess of the 
necessary accumulations for the support of the sink- 
ing funds to the amount of $18,773,045.97. Comment- 
ing upon the report Governor Sulzer said : 

'This huge accumulation of unnecessary moneys by 
the imposition of an inequitable tax year after year 
is the result of poor business administration of State 
affairs and would ultimately amount to a sum of money 
in excess of the requirements of the whole amount 
of authorized bond issues of $234,000,000." 

Still later the Committee of Inquiry stated that at 
every turn in their examination of State affairs they 
had noticed a lack of system and method in the ad- 
ministration of the business of the State, a wide de- 
parture from anything like uniformity and an un- 
scientific and wasteful absence of appropriate pro- 
visions for the prom.otion of economy. With the view 



THE GOVERNOR 31 

of remedying these evils the Committee of Inquiry 
proposed the creation of a Department of Efficiency 
and Economy; of a State Board of Estimate; of a 
State Board of Contract and Supply; and the passage 
of a bill giving the State Comptroller ample powers 
of auditing the accounts of all State departments. 

Commenting upon the bills to carry out these re- 
forms Governor Sulzer said : ''These bills meet my 
approval and will now be introduced in the Legislature. 
They will put the administration of State affairs on a 
business basis, I want to do that, and these bills will do 
it. I trust they will promptly be passed. When they 
become laws it will mean the saving to the taxpayers of 
millions of dollars every year." 

In a message addressed to the Legislature early in 
his administration, Governor Sulzer called attention to 
the necessity of remedial legislation regarding stock ex- 
changes, treating of "manipulation," "concerted move- 
ments to deceive," "short sales," "hypothecation of se- 
curities," "trading against customers' orders," "usury," 
etc. Eleven bills were prepared by the Governor and 
introduced in both Houses of the Legislature to carry 
his recommendations into effect. 

The second week of his administration Governor Sulzer 
appointed a special commission to collect facts, receive 
suggestions and make recommendations as to changes 
in the Public Health Laws and their administration. 
This special commission of eminent citizens consisted 
of Hermann M. Biggs, M. D., chairman; Homer Folks, 
secretary; John A. Kingsbury, assistant secretary; E. R. 
Baldwin, M. D., W. E. Milbank, M. D., Mary Adelaide 
Nutting, John C. Otis, M. D., and Ansley Wilcox. 

"In five weeks," as Governor Sulzer said in a mes- 
sage to the Legislature," "the commission collected a sur- 
prisingly large amount of authoritative information with 
regard to public health work in the various parts of the 



32 THE BOSS, OR 

State, and submitted findings and recommendations of 
great interest for the improvement of the laws relating to 
health.'' 

At a complimentary dinner given in his honor at the 
celebrated Lotos Club, New York city, Saturday night, 
February 8, 1913, Mr. Sulzer spoke in part, as follows: 

"As many of you know, from reading the newspapers, 
I have been a very busy man ever since I took the oath 
of office as the Governor of the State. To tell the truth 
I have been working on an average about eighteen hours 
out of the twenty-four, and this is the first public dinner, 
or reception, or entertainment, I have been able to attend 
since the first day of January. Being Governor of New 
York is no easy job — that is if you want to be The Gov- 
ernor. 

"The members of the Lotos Club are famous for their 
knowledge of literature, and are familiar, therefore, with 
the advice Don Quixote gave his faithful follower on 
'How to be a Governor;' and the subtle reply of that 
diplomatic individual when he said: 'He would rather 
be Sancho Panza and go to Heaven, than be Governor 
and go to Hell.' Many people, I am reminded daily, take 
the same view concerning the ultimate destiny of the 
Governor of the Empire State. All of which goes to 
prove that although we live in a progressive period, human 
nature is much the same now as it was in the days of the 
gallant Knight de la Mancha. 

"Before I was elected I made up my mind if success- 
ful, to be the Governor of all the people. I am going to 
be. I intend to do the best I can, in my own way, accord- 
ing to my own light, regardless of the political future, 
or of personal consequences, because I know that the 
political future is uncertain and that consequences are 
unpitying. 

"Long ago I made a vow to the people that if I became 
Governor no influence would control me but the die- 



THE GOVERNOR 33 

tates of my conscience and my determination to do my 
duty day in and day out, as I see the right. Have no fear. 
I shall stick to that. 

"I stand now where I always have stood, and where 
I always will stand — for certain fundamental principles — 
for freedom of speech; for the right of lawful assembly; 
for the freedom of the press; for liberty under law; 
for civil and religious freedom ; for constitutional gov- 
ernment ; for equality and justice to all; for home rule; 
for the reserved rights of the State; for equal rights to 
every one, and special privileges to no one ; and for un- 
shackled opportunity as the beacon light of individual 
hope, and the best guarantee for the perpetuity of our 
free institutions. 

"New York is the greatest State in the Union. It 
should always be an exemplar of economical and efficient 
and progressive administration. As its Governor I shall, 
in so far as I can, give the people of the State, an honest, 
an efficient, an economical and a businesslike adminis- 
tration of public affairs. I say businesslike advisedly, 
because I assure the business men in every part of our 
State that they can rely on me at all times to do my ut- 
most to promote the commercial interests of our com- 
monwealth. I realize how important they are, and shall 
always be exceedingly careful to take no step that will 
jeopardize the financial and the commercial supremacy 
of the first State in the Republic. 

"Suffice it to say that I am a friend of every business 
whether big or little, so long as it Is legitimate, and 
will always have its welfare in view in the administra- 
tion of State affairs. To this end I shall continue to work 
unceasingly for quicker and better transportation agen- 
cies, and for improved and larger terminal facilities, 
in order that New York shall continue to receive her just 
share of the trade and the commerce of the country. 

''Whenever in dx)ubt, it is my purpose to confide in 



34 THE BOSS, OR 

the people, and I indulge the hope that when my official 
term comes to an end I shall have accomplished some- 
thing to merit their approval, and to justify the confidence 
they have reposed in the rectitude of my intentions. 

"That is all there is to it, and that is all there is to 
say just now. I have little vanity. I want no glory — 
no credit for doing my duty — no future preferment — 
and when the office the people gave mz goes back to the 
people — to whom it belongs — to give to some other man 
— I say again, and I say advisedly — I want to retire from 
the misrepresentations and the disappointments of po- 
litical life — to a little farm, by the side of the road, and 
be the friend of man." 

Mr. Sulzer is a hard worker — and puts in about sixteen 
hours a day toiling for the people. He resorts to no po- 
litical arts or personal pretenses. He is just a plain, com- 
mon, every-day plodding, good-natured citizen, sincere, 
square, and loyal in every fiber of his manhood. He 
does not command support by subtle influences, trickery, 
hypocrisy, self-advertising and the command of wealth, 
like some others, but succeeds solely through his brains, 
his intrepidity and his fidelity to friends and to principles. 
He never had a press agent. He never financed a pub- 
licity bureau. He never paid for pufifs. .He does his work 
day in and day out, year after year, quietly, modestly, 
confident the results will ultimately speak for themselves, 
and conscious of the fact that the knowledge of duty 
well done, for duty's sake, and in the cause of freedom 
and righteousness and humanity, is after all the best re- 
ward and the most lasting recompense a public servant 
can have. 

Mr. Sulzer has always been a very modest man con- 
cerning his own achievements. And yet the more the 
people know about Mr. Sulzer the better they like him. 
As the record of his achievements is unfolded the greater 
and the grander stands out the man — the plain man of 



THE GOVERNOR 35 

the plain people — and they know him and they love him — 
this man who does things for the people for the intense 
love of doing them, and goes his way day after day happy 
in the consciousness that there is work to do, and that he 
is doing his share in his day and generation to make 
the world better and happier as the Master intended. 

Governor Sulzer is a "Commoner" through and through. 
The more you know about him — the more you see of 
him — ^the more you study him at close range — the more 
you like him and the more you will appreciate what he 
has done, and glory in his trials and his triumphs. He 
needs no eulogy. His career of struggle for higher and 
better things from a poor farm boy to the Governorship 
of the greatest State in the Union is an epic poem. 

Mr. Sulzer is of large stature, standing over six feet 
in height with a weight of 185 pounds which he carries 
with the grace of a trained athlete. He is abstemious; 
has sandy hair and steel blue eyes that look straight 
into yours, and read your innermost thoughts. During 
the war with Spain he organized a regiment of volun- 
teers and was elected colonel, but for political reasons 
it was not called into active service. Two of his younger 
brothers — a captain and a lieutenant — died in the service 
of their country. 

At the banquet of the Home Rule Conference 
and Municipal Government Association of New York 
State and the Legislative Committee of the New York 
State Conference of Mayors, at the Hotel Ten Ecyck, 
Albany, N. Y., Thursday evening, March 13, 1913, Mr. 
Sulzer said in part : 

''The sentiment back of the demand for home rule 
is the same sentiment that animated the patriotic fathers 
in their heroic struggle for Independence. It breathes 
the spirit of the Declaration, and it voices the aspirations 
of every lover of Liberty. 



36 THE BOSS, OR 

"No man is more in favor of home rule than I am. 
It is a part of my poHtical rehgion. I beheve in local 
self-government for village, and for town, and for city, 
and for county ; and I know that the people are capable 
of self-government. A denial of this proposition is an 
indictment of American intelligence and patriotism. 

*Tn my message to the Legislature I said: 'Let us 
stand squarely for home rule and local self-government — 
home rule for the State — for the reserved rights of the 
State — against encroachments by the central government 
at Washington. Llome rule for the counties, and the 
cities, and the towns, and the villages of the State, against 
legislative tinkering and invasion.' I stand for that. 
There will be no step backward. 

'T believe in local autonomy as a fundamental right. 
The experience of years has taught us that many of the 
evils the people want remedied ; that most of the things 
the people want done ; can be remedied, and can be done, 
through local agencies, without interference by the Na- 
tional and State Legislatures. 

"Let me urge the people to be firm at all times for 
home rule; and for the rights of the people in their re- 
spective communities to govern themselves politically, 
without legislative interference except when absolutely 
necessary. Li the future as in the past I shall adhere 
to that without deviation. The people can count on me, 
as the Governor of the State, not to interfere with home 
rule in any locality if I can possibly avoid it. If I do 
interfere, directly, it must be for the general welfare, and 
then only in a case that rises superior to local considera- 
tions and for the good of the common weal. 

'T am now, and ever have been, in accord with that 
fundamental principle of American statemanship which 
asserts that the States in themselves are sovereigns, and I 
stand unequivocally for their reserved rights against 
the tendencies of centralization of the Federal Govern- 



THE GOVERNOR 37 

ment. We know that the States are divided into coun- 
ties, and that each county, in so far as possible, should 
have the right to govern itself in civil and political matters. 
F'or that reason, as the Governor, I am determined to rec- 
ognize the rights of the counties in every part of the 
State through their duly constituted officials and their 
electoral machinery. 

"Then again, the counties have within their confines, 
the villages, the towns, and the cities ; and I want to see 
the greatest amount of local authority concentrated in the 
hands of .the officials. of these constituent parts of the 
counties of the State. 

**As Thomas JeiTerson well said, Tf we are directed 
from Washington when to sow and when to reap we 
shall soon want bread.'' If that applies to the seat of 
the Federal Government in connection with the rights 
of the States, it applies with greater force to the seat 
of the State Government in connection with the rights 
of the counties, the cities, the towns, and the villages 
of the State. 

"We know that in the diversification of power lies 
the safety of the State. We cannot deny the proposition 
that one generation is as capable as another of taking care 
of its own local affairs and solving its own local problems. 
Ralph Waldo Emerson said : 'All forms of government 
are ridiculous except those which men make for them- 
selves.' 

"You remember Mark Twain once said, 'when in doubt 
take a drink.' My policy as Governor is a little dif- 
ferent — when in doubt I shall confide in the people. I 
enunciated that idea in my inaugural address, and have 
been practising it now and then as occasion arises. I 
know the power of public opinion. I believe that all 
the people are wiser than a few of the people. Public 
opinion is the safest guide for legislation as well as po- 



38 THE BOSS, OR 

litical conduct. As the Bible says : *In a multitude of 
counsel there is much wisdom.' 

"Cities should be as free from interference by the 
State as the States should be free from interference by 
the Federal Government. Municipalities should be in- 
dependent in matters of purely local concern, and they 
should have the right to adopt their own charter, just 
as the people of the State have the right to adopt their 
own constitution. Municipalities should have the right 
to call a city charter convention the same as the people of 
the State have the right to call a constitutional convention. 

*'The trouble with the cities is not too much democracy 
but too little democracy. There is too much State con- 
trol. We need Home Rule to create city democracies, 
like those of Athens and Rome. It was freedom that in- 
spired in these cities local patriotism such as seldom has 
been equalled in all the annals of the world. 

"Home Rule is the demand on the part of the people 
to be trusted — trusted to govern themselves. Democ- 
racy rather than class interest is becoming intelligently 
organized. With the growth of cities they are becom- 
ing political units of great importance to the State. The 
opponents of Home Rule distrust democracy, but I do 
not fear the people. I fear special privileges. Home 
rulers trust the people, their opponents fear popular con- 
trol. 

*Tt is because of the survival of old monarchial ideas 
that our cities are not more independent. We proceed 
on the theory that the sovereignty which grants a cit\^ 
charter is a power similar to that formerly wielded by 
kings and emperors. It is a concession apparently that 
we grant to cities power to do this or that. But in a re- 
public such as ours the sovereignty resides in the people. 
The electors are the sovereigns. All just governments ob- 
tain their powers from the consent of the people. 

"We have the highest authority for Home Rule. 



THE GOVERNOR 39 

Thomas Jefferson believed that the permanency of our 
nation depended upon distribution of the powers of gov- 
ernment. 

*'The diversification of power is necessary for the 
safety of the State. Home Rule is the aspiration of the 
progressive spirit of our times, which demands that af- 
fairs of government shall be placed close to the people 
and kept there. When legislation for a community is 
carried on at a distance — public opinion fails to 
properly influence that legislation. 

"Public hearings are efforts to overcome this evil. It 
is better to have our legislative body close to the commun- 
ity than to take representatives of a community long dis- 
tances to meet the Legislature. 

"Let our cities be kept as free from State invasion as 
the State is kept free from national interference. As 
states adopt their own constitutions so should cities adopt 
their own charters. The cure for the evils of democracy 
is more democracy." 

Mr. Sulzer, without doubt, is the best vote getter to- 
day in the State of New York. He has always run thou- 
sands of votes ahead of his ticket. He has never been 
defeated. He is a man of the people and for the people. 

He is a 32d degree I\Iason, has held all the honors in 
the craft, and years ago became a life member. He is 
a member of Lloyd Aspinwall Post, G. A. R.. ; the Army 
and Navy Union ; the Eagles ; the Pioneers of Alaska ; 
the Artie Brotherhood ; the National Democratic Clubs ; 
Manhattan Club ; Press Club ; Masonic Club ; and other 
social clubs in Washington and New York city. He 
is a protestant, and his church afiiliations are with the 
Presbyterian denomination. His most profitable read- 
ing has been history, philosophy, and political economy; 
and his advice to young men is to work hard, cultivate 
good habits, have a motive in life, and a positive deter- 
mination to succeed. 



40 THE BOSS, OR 

Critics have said that Mr. Sulzer is one of the most 
gifted orators in America. Most of his speeches are 
impromptu and dehvered without preparation. Perhaps 
one of the most remarkable of these is the classic he made 
on the held of Gettysburg, July 3, 1913. When suddenly 
called upon by Governor Tener for an address, Mr. Sulzer 
said: 

"Gettysburg is fame's eternal camping ground — an in- 
spiration and a shrine — sacred to the heroic men, living 
and dead, whose struggle here hallowed this ground for 
all the centuries yet to come. 

"All honor and all glory to the men, from upland and 
from lowland, who met here to do and die for country. 
Their fame is secure. Their memory will endure. 

"Fifty years ago, Great Captains with their men from 
North and South — the bravest of the brave that ever 
faced a foe — struggled here and there across this plain, 
amid the roar of cannon, for three long weary days, in the 
mightiest contest that ever shook our land ; and in that 
clash of arms it was decided, then and here, that all men 
must be free; and that the Republic cf the Fathers shall 
not perish from the earth. 

"Half a century has come and gone since that terrific 
conflict, but the intervening years have only added a 
greater splendor to the sacrifice, and a grander glory to 
the victory. 

"History tells us that on this far-famed field was fought 
the decisive battle of the War between the States; that 
it was here the tide for Union — of all that we are, and 
all that we hope to be — turned to Old Glory ; that it was 
here the triumph of the Stars and Stripes, over the Stars 
and Bars, saved from dissolution the greatest Republic 
the sun of noon has ever seen; and that the valor, and 
the heroism, and the devotion, and the chivalry, here 
displayed, by the men in blue and the men in gray, will 



THE GOVERNOR 41 

live throughout the years of Time— the heritage of all- 
in the song and story of America." 

Mr. Sulzer is a very busy man, but his spare hours 
are spent in writing a book on ''Political Economy," 
which his friends believe will be a standard text-book 
on economic principles. His rugged honesty, his loyalty 
to his friends, his fearless devotion to every duty, his 
fidelity to principle, his ability as a champion of' the 
oppressed in every land and in every clime have made 
his name a household word among the people of Amer- 
ica, and as an apostle of freedom forever enshrined him 
in the hearts of humanity. 

Governor Sulzer was removed from office, by the 
bosses, on October 17, 1913, by two votes. If' any two 
of the Judges, or the Senators, who were dis- 
qualified from voting had refrained from voting, Mr. 
Sulzer would have been acquitted. The verdict oi the 
court was no sooner pronounced than plans were under 
way for a public demonstration of affection and esteem 
to the deposed Governor, from the citizens of Albany. A 
meeting was held the same night at the Ten Eyck Hotel, 
and arrangements were made for a presentation, on the 
following night, of a loving cup, which was inscribed as 
follows. 

PRESENTED 

TO 

HON. WILLIAM SULZER 

BY 

CITIZENS OF ALBANY 

IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF DUTIES 

WELL PERFORMED 
A MARTYR TO THE CAUSE OF HONEST 
GOVERNMENT 
OCTOBER 18TH, 1913. 

Notwithstanding the rain, it is estimated that at the 



42 THE BOSS, OR 

ceremonies, at the Executive Mansion, in connection with 
the presentation of this cup, more than 10,000 persons 
were in attendance. 

Governor Sulzer thanked the citizens in a few well 
chosen words, but this would not do, the air was filled 
with cries of "speech, speech, we want Sulzer," and in 
answer to the calls that would not cease Governor Sulzer 
stepped out on the porch facing the grounds of the man- 
sion. As the tall form appeared in view he was greeted 
with cheer upon cheer, the down-pouring rain had no 
effect, the people were there to let him know that the 
verdict of Murphy's court of Infamy did not represent 
the feelings of the citizens of Albany. When the gov- 
ernor could make himself heard he spoke as follows : 

"My friends, this is a stormy night. It is certainly very 
good of you to come here to bid Mrs. Sulzer and me 
goodbye. (A voice: "You will come back. Bill, next 
year.') 

"You know why we are going away. (A voice: 'Be- 
cause you were too honest.') 

"You know the people elected me the governor — (A 
voice; 'You bet your Hfe, and we will do it again next 
year.') — by the largest plurality ever given a candidate 
for governor in the history of the state. Of course, I ap- 
preciated that, and I made up my mind when I took the 
oath of office I would be true to the people, and show 
my appreciation of their confidence in me, and what they 
had done for me, by serving them fearlessly and honestly 
and faithfully. (Cheers.) 

"I just wanted to be the Governor. That was all. I 
was THE GOVERNOR. I would not be^ a rubber 
stamp for Murphy." (Loud cheers.) 

"I have been THE GOVERNOR. My conscience is 
clear, and tells me truly that I have done no wrong; but 
my whole duty, bravely and honestly, day in and day 



THE GOVERNOR 43 

out, to all the people of the state, as God gave me the 
light to see the right. (Cheers.) 

''A combination of political conspirators removed me 
from the office the people gave me, because I was after 
the grafters, and was sending them to prison for robbing 
the taxpayers. (Cheers.) 

''They say they impeached me for taking my own 
money. (Laughter.) I impeach the criminal conspira- 
tors, these looters and grafters, for stealing the' tax- 
payers' money. That is what I never did. (Cheers.) 

*Tt is a long lane that has no turn. My day will come 
again. From Murphy's High Court of Infamy, I appeal 
to that higher court — the court of public opinion. (A 
voice: 'You have got to do it.') 

"Let those who have failed take courage; 

Tho' the enemy seems to have won, 
Tho' the ranks are strong, if he be in the wrong 

The battle is not yet done ; 
For, sure as the morning follows 

The darkest hour of the night, 
No question is ever settled 

Until it is settled right." 

(Cheers.) 

"Yes, my friends, I know that the court of public 
opinion before long will reverse the judgment of Mur- 
phy's Court of Infamy. (Cheers.) Posterity will do 
me justice. Time sets all things right. I shall be patient. 
(Cheers.) 



"Out of the night that shelters me 
Black as a pit, from pole to pole, 

I thank whatever Fates there be 
For my unconquerable soul. 



44 THE BOSS, OR 

In the fell clutch of circumstance 
I have not winced or cried aloud; 

Beneath the bludgeonings of chance 
My head is bloody, but not bowed. 

However straight may be the gate, 

How charged with punishment the scroll, 

I am the master of my fate, 
I am the captain of my soul." 

(Loud cheering.) 

''Tammany Hall can take away the office the peopie 
gave me, but Tammany Hall cannot take away my man- 
hood ; (Cheers) my self-respect; my determination to 
fight on for the rights of the people, and for honest gov- 
ernment, in the future just as I have fought for these 
things in the past. (Cheers.) 

'T thank you one and all from the bottom of my heart, 
and assure you that I shall never forget your abiding con- 
fidence in me, and your unwavering loyalty to our cause, 
in coming out on this stormy night to say farewell to 
Governor Sulzer. (Cheers.) 

"Let us say farewell to Governor Sulzer, and never 
forget that he was not the governor long, but while he 
was in office he ^^'•as his own master." (Cheers and ap- 
plause.) 

The New York newspapers in commenting upon the 
demonstration the following Sunday morning, October 
19th, 1913, said: 

"It was an eye-opener for the machines. It was more 
like an ovation to a returning war hero." And tlie Albany 
Knickerbocker Press on Monday morning, October 20th, 
said: "The enthusiastic and' surprising demonstration of 
afifection accorded Governor Sulzer by thousands of Al- 
bany citizens during the rain storm of Saturday night is 



THE GOVERNOR 45 

still beings talked of everywhere. All agree that such a 
popular expression of feeling never before was shown." 
On Monday morning. October 20th, a committee of 
•citizens from the Gth Assembly district in New York 
City called on Mr. Sulzer. to urge his acceptance -of a 
nomination for :\Iember of Assembly from that district. 
He accepted and was elected by a majority of almost 
three to one over the candidate who received the next 
highest number of votes. That campaign is now history. 

Alex. S. Bacon. 



46 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER HI. 

MR. SULZER'S BRILLIANT RECORD OF AC- 
COMPLISHMENT IN THE ASSEMBLY OF 
THE STATE OF NEW YORK FOR 1890, '91, 
'92, '93 and '94. 

The record of Mr. Sulzer, in the Assembly, at Albany, 
proves that William Sulzer: 

1. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books of 
the State of New York, the law for the Women's 
Reformatory. 

2. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the Anti-Pinkerton Law. 

3. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for the State care 
of the insane — one of the great reformatory meas- 
ures of recent times, which has been substantially 
copied by nearly every State in the Union. 

4. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law abolishing 
sweat shops. 

5. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for free lectures 
for workingmen and working women. 

6. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law finally abolishing 
imprisonment for debt. 

7. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for the- Constitu- 
tional Convention. 

8. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for the Colum- 
bian Celebration in New York city. 



THE GOVERNOR 



47 




THE AUTHOR AND THE GOVERNOR ENTER- 
ING THE CAPITO'L. 



48 THE BOSS, OR 

9. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute bookjs 
of the State of New York, the Freedom of Worship 
Law. 

10. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the Ballot Reform Law. 

11. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the Corrupt Practices Act. 

12. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law to limit the hours 
of labor. 

13. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for the codifica- 
tion of the statutes of the State of New York. 

14. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the statutes codifying the 
quarantine laws. 

15. W^as the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law to open Stuy- 
vesant Park to the people. 

16. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law to open to the 
people on Sunday the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

17. Was the author of. and wrote on the statute books 
of New York, the law prohibiting net fishing in Ja- 

. maica Bay. 

18. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for the relief of 
the employees of the Street Cleaning Department. 

19. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for the Prevailing 
Rate of Wages. 

20. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for the State 
Park and to conserve the Adirondack Forests. 

21. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law for the conserva- 
tion of the natural resources of the State of New 



THE GOVERNOR 49 

York and for the protection of the water sheds of the 
Hudson River. 

22. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law aboHshing cor- 
poral punishment in the prisons of the State. 

23. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law completing the 
State Capitol. 

24. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the Constitutional Amend- 
ment to enlarge the State Canals. 

25. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the Weekly Payment 
Bill. 

2G. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the Saturday Half-Holi- 
day Law. 

27. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of the State of New York, the law establishing the 
epileptic colony. 

28. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of New York, the law for the Aquarium in New 
York City. 

29. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of New York, the law for Bronx and Van Cortlandt 
Parks. 

30. W^as the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of New York, the law for the Tilden Library. 

31. Was the author of, and wrote on the statute books 
of New York, the law to compel the New York Cen- 
tral Railroad Company to light and ventilate the 
Fourth Avenue tunnel; and many other progressive 
measures of far-reaching importance to all the peo- 
ple of the State of New York. 



50 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE CONSTRUCTIVE RECORD OF MR. SUL- 
ZER'S EIGHTEEN YEARS IN CONGRESS/ 

The Congressional Record tells the story of Mr. Sul- 
zer's work in Congress for eighteen years. 

The Congressional Record proves that Wm. Sulzer 

1. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
law for the Bureau of Corporations, through the 
agency of which the anti-trust laws can be enforced. 

2. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
law increasing the pay of the letter carriers of the 
country. 

3. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
resolution of sympathy for the Cuban patriots. 

4. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
resolution of sympathy for the heroic Boers in their 
struggle to maintain their independence. 

5. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
resolution of sympathy for the oppressed Jews in 
Russia, and protesting against their murder by the 
Russian government. 

6. Is the author of the bill to make Lincoln's birthday 
a legal holiday. 

7. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
resolution to abrogate the treaty with Russia be- 
cause that government refused to recognize Jewish- 
American passports. 

8. Is the author of the pension law for the orphans and 
widows of the deceased soldiers and sailors who 
saved the Union. 



THE GOVERNOR 51 

9. Is the author of the laws to regulate interstate com- 
merce railroads, and the election of U. S. Senators by 
direct vote of the people. 

10. Is the author of the bill for the relief of the victims 
of the "General Slocum" disaster. 

11. Is the author of the bill to restore the American 
Merchant Marine by preferential duties along the 
lines of the early navigation laws of the country. 

12. Is the author of the bill to construct national good 
roads. 

13. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
law to raise the wreck of the "Maine." 

14. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
law to light the Statue of Liberty. 

15. Is the author of the Old Soldiers' Law. 

16. Is the author of the law to create a "Department of 
Labor," with a Secretary having a seat in the Cab- 
inet. 

17. Is the author of the law to reduce tariff taxes, espe- 
cially on all goods, wares and merchandise manufac- 
tured in this country and sold cheaper abroad than to 
the people in the United States. 

18. Is the author of the law to place on the free list coal, 
wood pulp, lumber and white print paper. 

19. Is the author of. and wrote on the statute books, the 
resolution to amend the Constitution for a graduated 
income tax law. 

20. Is the aiUl'or of the law for postal savings banks and 
a general parcels post. 

21. Is the author of the bill for the Department of trans- 
portation. 

22. Is the author of the pension law for the Volunteer 
soldiers and sailors who saved the Union. 

23. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 
new copyright law. 

24. Is the author of, and wrote on the statute books, the 



52 ^ THE BOSS, OR 

resolution congratulating the people of China on the 
establishment of a republic. 

25. Is the author of the bill to improve the Foreign Serv- 
ice, and acquire embassies abroad. 

2G. Is the author of the law to prevent any ship sailing 
from ports of the United States unless equipped 
with every device for saving life ; and many other 
useful measures in the interests of all the people of 
the country. 



THE GOVERNOR 53 



CHAPTER V. 



CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM SULZER'S REMARK- 
ABLE RECORD. 



(Editorial from the "Nezv York Critic'' Oct. 15, 1912.) 

Mr. Sulzer has been in public office continuously for 
a quarter of a century — five years as an Assembly- 
man and eighteen years as a Congressman. He has never 
been defeated, although he lives in a district that is 
Republican. Indeed, it is one of the most cosmo- 
politan districts in the whole country, and although it 
contains many nationalities, has been gerrymandered 
against him, and has an ever-changing population, he has 
always been elected, even when the tidal wave was Re- 
publican. 

The secret of his great popularity is found in the fact 
that he is a man of the people, is absolutely honest, is 
true to his friends and never breaks his word; and it is 
not to be wondered at that he simply OWNS a district 
that no other Democrat can carry. If the people of the 
country knew him as well they would admire him as de- 
votedly as his constituents do. 

The one remarkable fact in his career is that he never 
seems to have made a political mistake, and this is ac- 
counted for by the fact that he always puts principle be- 
fore expediency and fidelity to his friends above tempo- 
rary advantage. The Critic has collated the following 
from the official records : 



54 THE BOSS, OR 

First : Mr. Sulzer was elected on an independent 
ticket to the Assembly in 1889 by the people to protest 
against the giving away of the Broadway railroad fran- 
chise. He won by 800 or 900 plurality. 

Second: He was re-elected in 1890, '91, '92 and '93 in 
succession to the Assembly by increased majorities. He 
was the Speaker in 1893 by the unanimous vote of his 
Democratic colleagues, notwithstanding the State ma- 
chine was opposed to him. He was the leader of the 
majority in 1892 and the leader of the minority in 1894. 
His record in the State Legislature was always in the 
, interest of good government and the people, and HAS 
NEVER BEEN ADVERSELY CRITICISED. 

Third : He r^n for Congress in the old Tenth Con- 
gressional District in 1894. The district had always been 
Republican, parts of it were intense Republican strong- 
holds, dominated by such men as John J. O'Brien, Ferdi- 
nand Eidman, William J. ATurray, John E. Brodsky, Mi- 
chael Collins and other Republican leaders. In 1894 the 
Republicans swept the country. The Democrats carried 
only five Congressional districts north of Mason and 
Dixon's line, of which three were in the city of New 
York. Congressmen like General Sickles and Amos J. 
Cummings were defeated in Democratic strongholds. 
Hill running for Governor lost Sulzer's Congressional 
district by over 11,000. Sulzer carried it by over 800 and 
was the only Democrat elected. 

Fourth: Mr. Sulzer stood by Bryan in the fight of 
1896. He was again a candidate and was elected by three 
times the majority he received two years before. Bryan 
lost the district by over 17,000. Sulzer again was the 
only Democrat elected. 

Fifth: In 1898 Sulzer carried the district by over 
8,000, notwithstanding there was a concerted movement 
by Mr. Hanna and other Republican leaders to defeat 



THE GOVERNOR 55 

him, and money was poured into the district to the ex- 
tent of thousands and thousands of dollars. 

Sixth: In 1900 McKinley carried the district by over 
11,000. Sulzer carried it by over 5,000. In 1902 Sulzer 
carried the district by over 9,000. The district went Re- 
publican for Governor. 

Seventh: Then the district was changed under the 
new apportionment and made stronger Republican. In 
190-4 Parker lost the district by over 7,000 and Sulzer 
carried it by over 4,000. 

Eighth: In 1906 Sulzer carried the district by over 
11,000, receiving OVER SEVENTY-FIVE PER 
CENT. OF THE ENTIRE VOTE CAST IN THE 
DISTRICT. 

Ninth: In 1908 Bryan lost the district by over 8,000 
and Sulzer carried it by about 5,000. 

The returns of the votes show that Mr. Sulzer has 
represented a Republican district practically ever since 
he went to Congress, and has always run thousands of 
votes ahead of his ticket. If he had run for Governor 
on several of these occasions when he ran for Congress 
and had polled on an average the same majorities in 
every district throughout the State, he would have car- 
rided the State in 1898, 1902, 1906, and in 1910. 

Mr. Sulzer was renominated for the tenth time for 
Congress when the standard for Governor was placed 
in his hands by the Democrats in the Syracuse Con- 
vention. 

Mr. Sulzer has never mixed in local politics. He has 
never received a receivership, or a refereeship, or any 
other consideration from Tammany. He has kept his 
skirts clean and has been in State politics when a mem- 
ber of the Legislature and in National politics as a mem- 
ber of Congress. He is a man who thinks for himself 
and has always done what he believed was right accord- 
ing to his light. When the Tammany orders came to 



56 THE BOSS, OR 

vote for ''Cannonism," Mr. Sulzer was the only Demo- 
crat from the City of New York who voted against 
"Cannonism." 

A man- with such a remarkable record in this age of 
shifty politicians would make a safe and sane executive. 
As a candidate he is ideal. Progressives can support him 
conscientiously. 



THE GOVERNOR 57 



CHAPTER VI. 



SULZER'S RECORD AS A MEMBER OF 
CONGRESS. 

(From the New York World, Monday, March 4, 1912.) 

Some of the Important Things He Has Done for 
THE Country— Halts Mexican War— and Bluffs 
Russia. 

At a recent reception in Washington a diplomat ^^f^ed 
Mr. Sulcer if he zvas in favor of "Dollar diplomacy." "I 
am' in favor of direct diplomacy," promptly replied the 
New York Congressman. 'IVhat do yon mean by direct 
diplomacy t" he zvas asked. 

''Telling the truth," he said. ''Say what yon mean, and 
mean zvhat you say, and be polite about it." 
[Special to the World.] 

Washington, IMarch 3, 1912.— Representative Wil- 
liam Sulzer of New York knows nothing about politics. 
Such at least is the firm belief of a majority alike of his 
friends and his enemies. Still the fact remains that the 
Democratic Chairman of the House Committee on For- 
eign Affairs is now completing his ninth consecutive term, 
in^the House of Representatives, and that for eighteen 
years he has carried a staunch Republican district in New 

York City. 

All the efforts of Tammany Hall, of the Republican 
organization, of Wall Street and its allies, have failed 
to pry him loose from his seat. Tammany never liked 



58 THE BOSS, OR 

Sulzer, but twice he has come within an ace of forcing 
Tammany to accept him as Democratic candidate for 
Governor, and to-day he is stronger than he ever was. 

When asked how he does it, Plain Bill thrusts 
his quid a little further into his cheek, affects an enig- 
matic smile that would make Wu Ting- fang himself 
envious and says, *'The people understand me, I under- 
stand the people, and we trust each other." 

Students of history will recall that Thomas Jef- 
ferson and Abraham Lincoln ascribed their political 
fortunes much to the same reason. But any one who 
would have taken up either of those distinguished gen- 
tlemen for a fool in politics would have found himself 
left. So, too, would any one who tried the experiment 
with Congressman Sulzer. He is one of the only three 
Congressmen on the Democratic side of the house who 
received any real political advancement when his party 
gained control in 1910. 

The other two were Champ Clark and Oscar Under- 
wood. Mr. Clark was made Speaker, Air. Underwood 
became chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, 
and William Sulzer was placed at the head of the im- 
portant Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

* THREE GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS BY SULZER. 

All three have distinguished themselves, but to Chair- 
man Sulzer belongs the credit of the greatest achieve- 
ments. He prevented the throwing of American troops 
into Mexico ; he secured the abrogation of the Russian 
treaty on the Jewish passport question, and he enacted 
the law for the Department of Labor. 

All three stories are worth the telling. Last summer 
when Ambassador Wilson told President Taft that "the 
whole of ]\Iexico was seething with political discontent 
and Diaz was seated on a volcano, the eruption of which 
might endanger the safety of 40,000 Americans, men, 



THE GOVERNOR . 59 

women and children, living in Mexico," President Taft 
concentrated an army along the Rio Grande. 

Immediately every conceivable pressure Vv^as brought 
to bear upon the President to induce him to send Ameri- 
can troops across the border, ostensibly to protect Ameri- 
can interests, but in reality to uphold the tottering regime 
of Diaz. The President would have yielded if the con- 
sent of the House had been obtained to this suggestion. 
The Senate was ready to accede to the desire of the 
Rockefellers, the Guggenheims, the Rothschilds and other 
financial interests. Some little opposition was expected 
from the Democratic House, but this every one believed 
would easily be overcome. They did not know Sulzer 
then, they have learned to know him since. Sulzer be- 
lieved then as he does now that the United States should 
keep out of ^Mexico and allow the Mexicans to settle 
their own affairs in their own way. It was certain the 
House would not consent to an invasion of IMexico, even 
on pretext of protecting American lives and property, 
in the face of an adverse opinion of the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs. 

Pressure, pressure of the most powerful kind, which 
few men would have b:en able and fewer still have dared 
to withstand, was brought to bear upon the plain hard- 
working chairman. The thousand millions of American 
investments shrieked their loudest, but Sulzer stood firm. 
He was summoned to the White House. The messages 
of Ambassador Wilson, the secret reports of American 
agents and American army officers were laid before him, 
the necessity for upholding the Diaz regime and all it 
meant to the vast financial interests was pointed out, he 
was argued with, cajoled and threatened, but he told 
President Taft and the Republican Senators that in his 
opinion Mexico was a friendly sister repubUc, and that 
she should be treated as such by the Government of the 
United States. 



60 THE BOSS, OR 

Sulzer added that American honor was more sacred 
than American dollars, and that the policy of this coun- 
try should be to live up to its treaty obligations, enforce 
the neutrality laws, and allow the people of Mexico to 
settle their differences without the intervention of the 
United States or any other Government. 

As President Taft had given assurances to the repre- 
sentatives of all Latin-American republics in Washington 
that the United States would not intervene except by 
and with the advice and consent of Congress, it was 
impossible in the face of Mr. Sulzer's opposition to do 
more than patrol the border. 

As a result of the non-intervention of the United 
States, JMexico overthrew Diaz, and Madero, the leader 
of the revolutionary forces, became President. 

Financial interests suffering severely from so long a 
period of political unrest have again brought every con- 
ceivable pressure to bear upon Mr. Taft to send Ameri- 
can forces into IMexico to restore order and establish a 
stable Government that could afford the protection so 
badly needed. 

But Chairman Sulzer held the key of the position. 
He was summoned to the White House, the situation was 
laid before him, again he stood firm. If this country 
to-day is not at war with Mexico it owes it more to 
Congressman Sulzer than to any other man. Mr. Sulzer 
pointed out that Mexico is rich and can be held finan- 
cially responsible for any damage done to American prop- 
erty ; that a war of conquest would be an international 
crime; that Latin-America would unite in protest if this 
great republic ruthlessly invaded the territory of a 
friendly sister nation. He refused to assent to the cross- 
ing of the Mexican border line by a single American 
soldier. He said that if one man went over the whole 
Mexican people, irrespective of their political differences, 
would join to repel the invader and that the outcome 
would inevitably be a war that could only end by the con- 



THE GOVERNOR 



61 




SAMUEL FRIEDMAN. 

Friend of Governor Sulzer. Well-known citizen in New 
York City. Took prominent part in tlie fight for honest and 
genuine Direct Primaries. 

Mr. Friedman strongly backed Mr. Sulzer in his fights for 
the oppressed Jews in foreign countries and often attended con- 
ferences at Washington, appearing before various committees, 
dealing with important matters of wide human interest, such 
as the Sulzer bills, from time to time, especially as regards immi- 
gration, and also the Russian treaty. 



62 THE BOSS, OR 

quest of every inch of Mexican territory. So much for 
the Mexican story. 

ANOTHER TRIUMPH IN THE RUSSIAN PASSPORT AFFAIR. 

The Russian passport question afforded Mr. Sulzer 
another signal triumph. It has been a thorn in the side of 
the State Department for forty years. American citizens 
bearing American passports were refused access to a 
country which had bound itself by the sacred ties of a 
solemn treaty to give free access to citizens of the United 
States, but which refused to admit Jews within its bor- 
ders. Here was a friendly nation arrogating to itself 
the right to discriminate between American citizens and 
to discriminate on account of race and religion. Yet 
nothing had been done, and it almost seemed as though 
nothing ever would be done until Mr. Sulzer became 
Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. 
He took up the question. He cut the Gordian knot by 
introducing a resolution to abrogate the Russian treaty 
of 1832, and he made that resolution express the funda- 
mental rights of American citizens at home and abroad. 
In urging its passage he told the House : 

'T stand . . . for equal rights to all and special 
privileges to none — for the dignity of American citizen- 
ship here and everywhere." 

Mr. Sulzer won a notable victory in passing his resolu- 
tion through the House by the overwhelming vote of 300 
to 1, and this forced the President to give to Russia the 
notice of abrogation directed to be given by the resolu- 
tion. 

The Sulzer resolution as passed by the House will 
stand for all time as a landmark in the legislative history 
of the country regarding the rights of American citizens. 

Another signal service rendered to the cause of justice 
and liberty by Congressman Sulzer was the recognition 



THE GOVERNOR G3 

of the republic of Portugal. This he has followed up by 
passing a resolution congratulating the people of China 
on the establishment of the Chinese republic. 

Some of the other public services rendered by Con- 
gressman Sulzer are the enactment of the law for the 
Department of Labor; and the resolution to change the 
Constitution of the United States to bring about the 
election of United States Senators by the people. This 
he has been advocating ever since he came to Congress. 
Mr. Sulzer is the author of legislation in Congress to 
give the people of this country the benefits of the parcels 
post, and there is every likelihood that before this session 
adjoins the bill will become a law. 

Mr. Sulzer is also the author of a bill to restore the 
Am.erican merchant marine and for years has been advo- 
cating legislation to place the American flag on the high 
seas. 

And there are others too numerous to mention. When 
the people wanted the wreck of th.c ]\[aine rais d Sulzer 
introduced the bill and passed it. He is the author of 
the bill to create a patent court of appeals. He is the 
author of the best copyright law ever placed upon the 
statute books of this country. And so on and so on. 

Sulzer is patient and courteous, sincere and grateful. 
He knows what to do and how to do it. When he cham- 
pions a cause for justice or humanity he never ceases to 
advocate it until that cause is won. His enthusiasm for 
right is only equaled by his perseverance to secure its 
final triumph. 

*'Work tells," is Sulzer's motto. 



64 THE BOSS, OR 

CHAPTER YH. 

SULZER THE UNSPOILED PUBLIC SERVANT. 

{IV. A. Lcivis, in the "Nczvs;' April 22, 1912.) 

A Pen Picture of the Congressman Sulzer Made at 

Close Range. 

Wm. Sulzer .s at his best in a chair-to-chair talk. This 
isn't true of many men, because the average individual 
cannot stand the intimate scrutiny that discloses personal 
blemishes quite as readily as it reveals deficiencies of 
mind. j\Iost men in public or in private life wear best 
and wear longest when seen at long range ; and a goodly 
portion of our public men made their reputations judged 
from afar, seen on the rostrum, read in their speeches, 
captured by the camera. 

Sulzer has opinions. He has them on all subjects on 
which a public man ought to have them. You do not have 
to drag them out of him, nor does he load you up with 
them faster than you can digest them. He evidently be- 
lieves heartily in what is known as "good fellowship." 
And by good fellowship I mean the warm communion of 
men in mental pursuits ; not in the insane sense of 
shoulder-slapping and front name calling, but in the un- 
affectedness that betokens sincerity, in the cordiality that 
portrays amiability, in the low-voiced manner that indi- 
cates intention to sometimes do some listening" to what 
the other fellow has to say. 

Sulzer — if you don't happen to know him by sight — is 
not a classically beautiful man, because his features are 
broken up into those rugged juts of force, those abrupt 
bubbles of intensity, which tend to spoil the smooth, even, 
waxen symmetry known as "regular features." Sulzer is 



THE GOVERNOR 65 

a man, however, you'd believe and trust from the jump. 
You'd not doubt what he told you, and if he told you 
he'd do a thing you wouldn't give 5 cents to have it 
guaranteed. You wouldn't need to. Sulzer inclines to 
the sandy or auburn complexion ; his head is large, brow- 
ful, his eyes big and full of seeing power ; he looks at 
you when he talks and he talks at you, too. Sulzer 
doesn't pose ; is free and off-hand, frank and to the 
point ; he is in Washington to sit in Congress ; he sits in 
Congress to represent his New York district, and he rep- 
resents it with brains, intrepidity, squareness and fidelity. 

I can easily understand why Sulzer isn't regarded with 
that seriousness that one would expect to attach to one 
who has been nearly all his life identified with public 
affairs. He is too democratic, too urbane, too much 
everybody's friend, too charitable and generous and free 
and cordial; doesn't hedge himself about enough to pro- 
tect himself from more or less imposition that must be, 
and doubtless has been, detrimental to him. 

It isn't mv duty to give Sulzer advice, but for a public 
man he is unusually approachable. Of course tha't's the 
temper and mould of the man, and it has recommenda- 
tions in it, but it has disadvantages as well. And when 
I hear Sulzer criticised I realize that it all arises from 
his super-candor, frankness, almost self-sacrificing readi- 
ness to do and be for others. In some respects this isn't 
always good policy. It makes people misunderstand you. 
It gives you a reputation for being superficial. It tends 
to lighten your public weight, whereas it ought to work 
just the other way. 

But I didn't call on Sulzer to interview him, ask for 
his picture, and much to his credit, didn't see any pic- 
tures of him anywhere about. 

I do not consider Sulzer an interviewable sort of man. 
That is to say, his views and opinions need the telling of 
them quite as much as they need be told. I know Sulzer 
has a reputation as a speechmaker; that he is in demand 



66 THE BOSS, OR 

in elections; that he has a fame as a pubHc talker. I 
never heard him make an address, so can't express a per- 
sonal opinion. But he can't talk on his feet any more 
naturally, consistently and entertainingly than he can at 
his ease in a chair, in. a quiet room, uninterrupted, un- 
guided by any interviewing influences, knowing he is not 
talking for publication, than when he is talking on his 
favorite topic. 

Although Sulzer had some huge thinking task on his 
desk when I went in, he entered into the zest of our 
little chat with that luxurious indulgence of his mind in 
the pastime of a bit of relaxation offered by my visit. 
Maybe he cussed me under his breath for coming. Maybe 
my coming was at an inopportune time. But he didn't 
show it. He was gracious, cordial, clever, plain as an 
old shoe, as they put it, and the clock struck midnight be- 
fore I knew it. 

So I would intimate to you if you live in Sulzer's dis- 
trict, if you are one of his constituents (and if you are 
not, for that matter, the lesson is just as pat in any 
event), that as Congressmen go, as public men go, as 
official life goes, Sulzer is one of rare industry, applica- 
tion, approachableness, sincerity, sturdy character, con- 
scientiousness. I found him at home ! That meant a 
good deal to me. I found him at work ! That meant 
more. If you knew the public life pace in Washington, 
you'd appreciate this maybe more than you will. 

Washington has — and has always had — its coterie of 
sporty Congressmen. They can't all be like Daniel Web- 
ster, you know, who drank brandy and played cards all 
night with Henry Clay before he made hfs great reply 
to Hayne. And Webster never saw the day he worked 
as hard for his constituency as Sulzer works for his. Fm 
not making comparisons between Webster and 
Sulzer. I'm merely recording in Sulzer's favor certain 
personal peculiarities that are all right, that his 



THE GOVERNOR 67 

New York friends may well be proud of, and which do 
the law-making work in the Capitol essential good. 

Sulzer and I didn't talk politics in any personal sense, 
so what he looks forward to I haven't the remotest idea. 
I was asked by a friend of his to try and meet him some 
time. **Some time" was that very quiet evening, unan- 
nounced, unprepared. I enjoyed it. Did Sulzer? Well, 
I know not. W. A. Lewis. 



68 THE B(3SS, OR 



CHAPTER VHL 

(From the leading Editorial in The New York Call, Mon- 
day, October 29, 1913). 

THE TRUTH ABOUT WILLIAAI SULZER 

William Sulzer, removed from the office of Governor, 
returns to private life, and the kept newspapers that 
from the beginning have helped in all ways to drag him 
down tell us that he is disgraced. 

I do not see how. 

Admit all you please about acts of Sulzer, and still 
to the impartial mind capable of independent judgment 
these pivotal facts will remain : 

1. He was impeached for acts committed when he was 
not Governor. 

2. The things charged against him, however silly, were 
not things that deserved impeachment. 

3. He was plainly the victim of Murphy and Tam- 
many Hall and the Invisible Government which he 
had offended. Mr. Ryan sent his own. son to testify 
against him and to go out of the normal way of a wit- 
ness to say bitter and injurious things against the man 
whose political death had been decreed. 

4. The New York newspapers, whose controlling in- 
fluence is now no secret to any man that cares to inquire 
about it, treated him with deliberate unfairness and 
plainly strove in every way to create prejudice against 
him. 

5. There is not one politician in public life against 
whom charges cannot be brought similar to those that 
were used to wreck Governor Sulzer. The consecjuence, 
then, is as plain as day. From this time forth men in 



THE GOVERNOR 69 

public office will understand that at any revolt against 
the Powers that be, Sulzer's fate may be theirs. 

The total effect is to strengthen beyond any possible 
precedent the malign influences that concentrated wealth 
exerts over our affairs. 

The whole inside of this case is unmistakable to any- 
one accustomed to more than surface observation. 

Sulzer was a politician and played the politician's usual 
game in the usual way. But at the same time he had 
always a sincere sympathy with the people and a sincere 
desire to serve them. 

I know that, because I saw much of his work in Wasli- 
ington. I hardly need to say that about some things 
we disagreed. But it at least was true that throughout 
all his Washington service no man ever went to him 
with any proposal on the side of the people against 
privilege without finding a sympathetic listener, nor with- 
out getting all the help that this man, within the limita- 
tions of his position, could possibly afford. 

So far as he could see his way, he was with the work- 
ing class, and not for political advantage, but from his 
natural sympathies. 

Every other unbiased observer in Washington knew 
that as well as I, and will say so. 

Very likely .he had more heart than head. I don't 
know. But I do know that the fault is so unusual 
among public men that to my mind it am.ounts to a 
virtue. 

Nobody ever alleged it against Mr. Ryan or Mr. Mur- 
phy. 

To many a good cause he gave his support ungrudg- 
ingly, and without a chance of any return. He had a 
capacity for genuine feeling about injustice. Long be- 
fore he began his successful campaign against the Rus- 
sian treaty, he told me privately his convictions about 
Russia gathered from his own readings and observations. 
He took up. the cause of the underpaid women teachers 



70 THE BOSS, OR 

of New York when to do so could mean no possible 
advantage to him. He stood out long ago for woman 
suffrage, when to advocate it insured only an avalanche 
of ridicule. 

When he was elected Governor it was as a politician, 
playing the game. In the office he got a good inside 
view of the perfectly rotten condition of government as 
it really is, and in his own way he tried to combat the 
evils he saw around him. 

Say that he thought he saw in the situation a chance 
to further his own ambition. I don't know and I don't 
care. I have no time to quarrel with the motives of 
men that are moved to give battle to Special Privilege. 
It is enough to find one that will do it for any motive, 
and they are rare enough at that. 

Sulzer gathered some idea of the flock of cormorants 
that for years and years have settled upon State con- 
tracts. State institutions and State work. He started to 
drive them from their roosts and aroused their fierce 
and undying hatred. Back of these creatures and their 
preying were some of the most powerful Interests in the 
State. In revenge they determined to achieve his polit- 
ical ruin. 

At the same time he revolted against Wall Street and 
the Invisible Government. Then the supreme power in 
our affairs sentenced him to extinction and set its retain- 
ers to work to that end. 

Some of the newspapers pretend to be astonished that 
in the midst of his misfortunes he seems to be uncrushed 
and retains a cheerful and unruffled demeanor. 

Why should he not? 

It may be painful to be sacrificed to the Controlling 
Interest, but it is no disgrace. William Sulzer is not the 
first man they have pulled down, and will not be the last. 

The mark of their disapproval is no sign of disgrace ; 
it is a badge of honor. 

Knowing what I know about them and their ways and 



THE GOVERNOR 71 

their purposes, the fact that they have slaughtered this 
man atones for many errors. 

No man can possibly be disgraced or unworthy of 
respect if he has managed to earn their enmity. 

No man can possibly be very bad if he has been good 
enough to secure the condemnation of the filthy kept 
press of New York. 

And finally, any man that knows things as they are in 
New York State and New York City would rather be 
William Sulzer, thrown out of office by the Gas House 
Gang, Wall Street, and the Dirty System than spend one 
hour in the Governor's chair as the valet of Boss Mur- 
phy and lackey of Thomas Fortune Ryan. 

Charles Edward Russell. 



72 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TRIAL OF GOV- 
ERNOR WM. SULZER 

His Work for Honest Government Discussed by Al- 
bert Shaw in the Review of Reviews 

The Prospect for Good Government in the Metropolis 
and in the State is. Better on Account of Siilzers 
Struggle Than It Has Been at Any Time for Half 
a Century— hnpcacluncnt Called "An Attack of Des- 
perate Scoundrels." 

A faithful reflection of the pubhc opinion of the State 
in regard to Governor Sulzer and his impeachment is 
found in the December number of the Review of Re- 
views. This magazine, edited by Albert Shaw, presents 
every month an intelligent, non-partisan, and impartial 
review of recent history-making events which commends 
itself to discriminating readers who appreciate how the 
powers of invisible government misinterpret and distort 
current news in the columns of many of the daily news- 
papers of the great cities. 

SULZEr's "'downfall'' and UPRISIl^G 

The Review of Reviews says : 

"The election of William Sulzer to the legislature 
is not merely sensational; it is a political affair of large 
importance. Mr. Sulzer as Governor has rendered the 
State of New York an almost superlative service. The 
prospect for good government in the metropolis and in 



THE GOVERNOR 73 

the State is better than it has been at any time for half 
a century — and this result is due to Sulzer more than to 
any other man. He had a chance, as Governor, to make 
a nominally good record for himself, and yet to avoid 
all serious trouble. Tammany would have allowed him 
to accomplish many things that could have borne the re- 
form label. All that Tammany asked of him was not 
to investigate certain situations too sharply, and to con- 
sult Mr. Alurphy about a few appointments. In spite of 
all kinds of threats of exposure that would disgrace him 
and break him down, Sulzer persisted in using men like 
Hennessy and Blake to investigate corruption and 
mismanagement in the affairs of the. State. Sulzer 
demanded that the Tammany Senate expel Stilwell for 
being concerned with legislative bribery. Upon Tam- 
many orders, the Senate whitewashed Stilwell; where- 
upon Sulzer caused his indictment, and Stilwell wae sent 
to the penitentiary. 

THE IMPEACHMENT AND ITS RESULTS, 

'Tf Sulzer had not called the extra session, in his 
eft'ort to secure direct-primary legislation, Tammany 
could not have got at him with its impeachment charges. 
The impeachment trial, brought in an extra session, was 
as plainly contrary to the constitution as explicit language 
could make it. It was equally plain that the Sulzer im- 
peachment was an attack of desperate scoundrels upon 
an honest man. Nothing was brought out in the Sulzer 
trial that was even distantly related to those offences for 
which Governors can be properly impeached. It is not 
even now clear that Sulzer made an incorrect 
re]:)ort of his campaign expenses. The object of the law 
is to prevent men from spending money lavishly in im- 
proper ways, and to see that what is spent is duly re- 
ported. Sulzer reported whatever was spent. 

"Judge Cullen, who presided over the impeachment 



WILLIAM SULZER. 




From the Albany Knickerbocker Press. 
THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNOR. 



THE GOVERNOR 76 

court, held that Sulzer had done nothing for which he 
could be impeached. The scoundrels who were 
mixed up in the orgy of canal and road-building graft 
were so shortsighted as to suppose that if they broke 
down Sulzer they would discredit Sulzer's accusations 
against them. But this was the very opposite of what 
happened. Their impeachment of Sulzer focused the 
attention of the whole world upon their own iniquities. 
It aroused the entire State of New York to a sense of 
public danger and public duty. The important thing was 
the work of cleaning out the grafters that Mr. Sulzer had 
set himself to perform. 

"Even before Mr. Sulzer and Mr. Hennessy had fin- 
ished their speeches in the last ten days of the cam- 
paign the latter was giving testimony before Chief 
Magistrate McAdoo, of New York City, in an inquiry 
which had been set on foot by Mr. Whitman. The Dis- 
trict-Attorney, as our readers are aware, had shown him- 
self to be a good investigator in his exposure of the cor- 
rupt element in the New York police force that was 
in alliance with politicians, gamblers and criminals for 
mercenary ends. Information began to pour in on Mr. 
Whitman from all parts of the State, and there was 
good reason to believe that the work to which Governor 
Sulzer had addressed himself last winter would go for- 
ward. 

MR. GLYNN AND HIS ATTITUDE AS GOVERNOR. 

"The removal of Governor Sulzer had elevated Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Glynn to the vacant seat which, under 
the law of New York, he will hold until the end of 1914. 
It became necessary for Glynn to decide quite definitely 
whether he would put himself on the side of the deter- 
mined reformers, or consult the Tammany elements that 
had been so anxious to put him in the Governor's chair. 

"The fight against graft must go very deep before 



7G THE BOSS, OR 

it touches bottom ; and it is likely enough to implicate 
some of Glynn's political friends. It takes stern 
character to do one's full duty in high office under 
such circumstances. Mr. Glynn has lived a long time in 
Albany, and nobody should know better than he how 
rotten the State government has been. Many things of 
which he must have had some knowledge ought to have 
troubled his conscience in the past — perhaps a little more 
ihan it has seemed to show disquietude. A man who 
takes the office of Governor from any motive short of 
rendering the State the finest and highest possible service 
of which he is capable can hardly avoid going out of 
office with the record of a Dix. It is for Mr. Glynn 
to remember that even Sulzer — thrown out of his office 
in supposed disgrace at the hands of the Bosses will 
unquestionably go down to history along with Tilden, 
Roosevelt and Hughes, as one of the great reform 
Ciovernors of the State of New York, whose courage 
in defying the corrupt combination of crooked politics 
and crooked business led to great progress in the 
long-sufifering but noble cause of good government. 

"There w^as some talk of bringing Mr. Sulzer for- 
ward as a candidate for Speaker of the new Assembly, 
to which he was elected by an overwhelming majority. 
But the Speakership will presumably go to a Republican. 
Mr. Sulzer's leading position, however, In the fight for 
reform In the State government, and his long experience 
as a legislator at Washington will make him the most 
conspicuous personality In either branch of the legis- 
lature. His need now Is to lay aside his personal am- 
bitions, while throwing himself unselfishly into the most 
important work It has ever fallen to his lot to perform 
on behalf of his fellow citizens. 

SULZER CAUSED THE LANDSLIDE. 

"The great size of Mr. Mitchel's plurality was not 



THE GOVERNOR 77 

due to the positive and intelligent desire of the 
people of New York to have a thoroughly good municipal 
government. The Fusion ticket ought, indeed, to have 
won on its merits under normal conditions, and it had a 
fighting chance to win. But it happened that Tammany's 
fight against Governor Sulzer, and its success in securing 
his impeachment had resulted in sensational exposure 
of the real reasons that had impelled Murphy and the 
Tammany ring. It was shown clearly that Sulzer had 
been impeached, not for his faults, but for his virtues. 
He had started out as Governor to expose the misman- 
agement of State departments and the robbery of the 
State by politicians and contractors in the expenditure 
of two or three hundred million dollars upon State canals, 
highways, prisons and so on. A part of the work of 
investigation for Governor Sulzer had been performed 
by Mr. John A. Hennessy. Mr. Sulzer and Mr. Hen- 
nessy took the platform during the municipal campaign 
and gave to New York a series of speeches of definite 
accusations, and an irresistible quality of carrying con- 
viction. Governor Sulzer, meanwhile, had been 
promptly named for the legislature as a Progressive in 
the old Sixth Assembly District, and his meetings were 
attended by countless thousands of sympathetic citizens 
who arose in passionate determination to vindicate an 
honest Governor against his corrupt and infamous op- 
ponents. 



78 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER X. 

MR. SULZER'S SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE AS 

THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR 

GOVERNOR. 

Delivered in the National Democratic Club of New York 
City on the occasion of his Notification Thursday 
night, October 10, 1912. 

Mr. Sulzer spoke as follows: 

Gentlemen — The nomination for Governor by the 
Democrats of New York is an honor deeply appreciated, 
and the responsibilities entailed are fully realized. 1 
thank the delegates to the Syracuse convention, and 
through them all the Democrats of the Empire State, 
whom they represented in that memorable gathering. 
With gratitude to all I accept the nomination — and grati- 
tude with me is the fairest flower that sheds its perfume 
in the human heart. 

It is gratifying to me to know that my nomination for 
Governor comes from a free and an unfettered conven- 
tion of independent delegates, elected according to law 
by the people, and that it has united and harmonized the 
Democratic party from one end of the State to the other. 

We are all together now, fighting for great funda- 
mental principles — in the interests of all the people. 
With our faces to the rising sun of Democratic oppor- 
tunity, under the leadership of our national standard- 
bearer, the gifted Governor of New Jersey, Woodrow 
Wilson, we are marching on to triumphant victory. 



THE GOVERNOR 79 



PLATFORM MEETS APPROVAL. 



The progressive platform, ably written and unan- 
imously adopted by the delegates to the Syracuse con- 
vention, has been carefully studied and meets with my 
sincere approval. If I am elected Governor I shall do 
everything in my power to faithfully carry out every 
promise made by my party in that enunciation. 

An ounce of performance is worth a ton of promise. 
In the future, as in the past, I shall promise little, but 
try to the best of my ability to perform much, and I sub- 
mit as a surety of this my record at Albany and in Wash- 
ington as the best guarantee for the sincerity of my 
words. 

To me Democracy is a part of my existence. I use 
the term in its best and its broadest sense. I am a Dem- 
ocrat through and through, a progressive Democrat, and 
Jeffersonian Democrat, if you will. I believe that 
through the agency of organization and systematic effort 
the greatest good for the greatest number can best be 
accomplished. In union there is strength, and if I am 
elected Governor I want to rely on the aid and the coun- 
sel of all good citizens and a united party to accomplish 
the reforms now demanded by the people. 

It is, of course, impossible for me in this speech of 
acceptance, which I desire to make as brief as possible, 
to go into details regarding many matters of public mo- 
ment and discuss them as fully as I should like to do. 
During the campaign, however, I shall no doubt speak to 
the people on many matters of interest which time now 
prevents. I want to take the people into my confidence, 
as I want them to take me into their confidence. I trust 
the people and they trust me. We understand each other, 
and we must work together for the general welfare. 



80 THE BOSS, OR 

PLEDGES TO THE rEOPLE. 

If elected Governor I shall to the best of my ability 
endeavor to give the people of the State an honest, an 
economical and a business-like administration of public 
a^airs. I say business-like advisedly, because I assure 
the business men in every part of our State that they 
can rely on me at all times, to do my utmost to promote 
the business and the commercial interests of our com- 
monwealth. I realize how important they are, and shall 
ever be exceedingly careful to take no step to jeopardize 
the financial and the commercial supremacy of the first 
State in the Union. 

Suffice it to say that I am a friend of every honest 
business, whether big or little, and will always have its 
v/elfare in view in the administration of State affairs. 
To this end I shall work unceasingly for quicker and bet- 
ter transportation agencies, and for improved and larger 
terminal facilities, in order that New York shall continue 
to receive her just share of the trade and commerce of 
our country. 

IS A FRIEND OF THE NAVY. 

I am now, and always have been, a friend of the Navy, 
and I believe in the restoration of the supremacy of the 
Flag of the United States upon the merchant shipping 
of the world and the proper protection to owners and 
users of vessels built in this country, and shall continue 
to urge speedy, action in favor of the establishment and 
m.aintenance of an American Merchant Maritie. 

Ever before us must be kept the needs of agriculture. 
I grew to manhood on a farm. I know farm life, and 
my sympathy is with' the toilers. What the farmer pro- 
duces is real wealth. To-day, when consumption has 
caught up with production, it behooves us to give atten- 
tion and every kind of encouragement to the land. Those 



THE GOVERNOR 81 

of the cities who would return to farms must be encour- 
aged, and those of the farms must be aided to greater 
effort and larger profit. 

To this end legislation that will secure greater pro- 
duction should be promoted. Let our people be provided 
with constructive legislation that will enable farmers to 
co-operate among themselves, so that farmers and city 
people can have the closest possible intercourse, and the 
products of the farm may be moved to the kitchens of 
customers with the least possible friction, at the smallest 
expense, and in the shortest time. We should help our 
farmers to secure the advantages of long loans at rea- 
sonable interest rates. The parcels post legislation just 
started should be further extended so as to include an 
express post in order to make still freer the exchange 
between country and city. 

AID FOR THE FARMERS. 

Agricultural education, now in its infancy, must be 
fostered until agriculture is taught not only in a few 
colleges in the State, but in every high school in our 
commonwealth. Our game laws should be strengthened 
to prevent thoughtless hunters from trespassing on farms 
during the game season unless freedom to hunt has been 
granted. Each year thousands of complaints are heard 
about the abuse of hunters who trespass and shoot game 
without permission of the owners, and often much dam- 
age is done to poultry and other farm stock. 

The farmer's interest must be promoted in the matter 
of good roads. The State fair must be made an agri- 
cultural, an educational, and an industrial exposition and 
State institution commissioned by men in sympathy with 
its interests and capable of directing this great enter- 
prise in all its channels. The State Agricultural So- 
ciety, which has become such a splendid clearing house 



82 THE BOSS, OR 

of agricultural thought, direction and publicity, should 
be encouraged to greater activity. 

Our Department of Agriculture, one of the most useful 
administrative branches of the State government, must 
never be allowed to become partisan in character, but 
held strictly to the line of agricultural promotion. If I 
am the Governor I desire to say that whatever is within 
my power I shall do to sustain, to promote and to up- 
build the agricultural resources of the Empire State. I 
will work heartily with representatives, as well as the 
rank and file of farmers, to make the next two years 
the most prosperous that this State has ever known. 
When the farmer is prosperous the State will flourish. 

GOOD ROADS AND WATERWAYS. 

Good roads, the continued conservation of human life, 
"of our natural resources and the constant improvement 
of our waterways appeal to me now as they have in the 
past, and will have my earnest support and constant at- 
tention. 

We know that good roads, like good streets, make 
habitation along them most desirable; they enhance the 
value of farm lands, facilitate transportation, and add 
untold wealth to the producers and consumers of the 
country ; they are milestones marking the advance of 
civilization; they economize time, give labor a lift, and 
make millions in money ; they save wear and tear and 
worry and waste; they beautify the country — bring it in 
touch with the city ; they aid the social and religious and 
educational and the Industrial progress of the people ; 
they make better homes and happier firesides, they are 
the avenues of trade, the highways of commerce, the mail 
routes of information, and the agencies of speedy com- 
munication; they mean the economical transportation of 
marketable products — the maximum burden at the mini- 
mum cost ; they are the ligaments that bind the country 



THE GOVERNOR 83 

together in thrift and industry and intelHgence and 
patriotism ; they promote social intercourse, prevent intel- 
lectual stagnation, and increase the happiness and pros- 
perity of our producing masses; they contribute to the 
glory of the city and the country, give employment to our 
idle workmen, distribute the necessaries of life — the 
products of the fields and the forests and the factories — 
encourage energy and husbandry, inculcate love for our 
scenic wonders, and make mankind better and broader 
and greater and happier. 

THE TRUTHS OF HISTORY. 

The plain people are familiar with the truths of his- 
tory. They know the past. They realize that often 
the difference between good roads and bad roads is 
the difference between profit and loss. Good roads 
have a money value far beyond the ordinary concep- 
tion. Bad roads constitute our greatest drawback to 
internal development and material progress. Good 
roads mean prosperous farmers ; bad roads mean aban- 
doned farms, sparsely settled country districts, and 
congested populated cities, where the poor are destined 
to become poorer. 

Good roads mean more cultivated farms and cheaper 
food products for the toilers in the cities ; bad roads 
mean poor transportation, lack of communication, high 
prices for the necessaries of life, the loss of untold 
millions of wealth, and idle workmen seeking employ- 
ment. Good roads will help those who cultivate the 
soil and feed the multitudes, and whatever aids the farm- 
ers will increase our wealth and benefit all the people. 
We cannot destroy our farms without final decay. 

If the people send me to Albany I shall do what I 
can to reduce the high cost of living, and make life 
less a struggle for existence. For more than ten years 
the increasing cost cf living, mounting higher and 



84 THE BOSS, OR 

higher each succeeding year, has been the most im- 
mediate, the most pressing and the most universally ob- 
served fact about economic conditions in this country. 
During all this period, while wages have remained prac- 
tically the same and the cost of the necessaries of life 
have grown more and more oppressive, the promise has 
been held out by the Republicans that when they got 
around to tariff revision something would be done to 
remedy these inequitable conditions. But what was the 
result ? The mockery of the Payne-Aldrich law — making 
iTiatters worse instead of better. 

PROMISES PROVED EMPTY. 

Ever since 1896 the average man has been gradually 
losing his hold on the means of physical existence. 
The political party in power all this time cannot escape 
responsibility for these conditions. The people no 
longer trust Republican promises. They no longer 
blindly believe in the efficiency of Republican policies. 
The systematic overcapitalization of all kinds of enter- 
prises ; the consolidation of management and the cen- 
tralization of ownership ; the fixity of the wages of toil ; 
the advancing of prices, in too many cases out of all 
reason, of the necessaries of life — all these things have 
caused a widespread distrust of Republican doctrines 
and the philanthropic assertions of the beneficiaries of 
Republican protection. 

A continuance of these evils Is a menace to our civili- 
zation. It is the duty of Democracy to remedy them, 
and the Democratic party, with the motto of equal rights 
to all and special privileges to none written across its 
banner, welcomes the opportunity. 

As a Democrat imbued with the principles of Jeffer- 
son I believe in justice to all. I am opposed to special 
privilege. If I am anything I am an individualist, and 
I believe in keeping the door of opportunity open for 



THE GOVERNOR 85 

every man in all this broad land. That is my democ- 
racy, and it is true Democracy, and I use the word *'de- 
mocracy" not in its political but in its generic sense. 

• 

BELIEVES IN FAIR PLAY. 

There is nothing narrow-minded about my view of 
political questions. I believe in fair play to all. I am 
opposed to anything that will estrange employer and 
employee or cause a breach between capital and labor, 
and I am a friend of both. I want to give each an 
equal chance. 

I believe I voice the sentiments of the working people 
when I say that all labor wants is a fair show, an equal 
chance and a square deal. Labor is indefatigable and 
unselfish. It does not ask for nore than its rights. 
We hear much about equality before the law. That is 
all the workingmen want. They seek no special privi- 
lege and they want none. 

Labor makes no war on vested rights. It does not 
rail at honestly acquired wealth. It is not antagonistic 
to legitimate capital. It would close no door of op- 
portunity. It would darken no star of hope. It strikes 
no blow to paralyze ambition. It stands for equality 
before the law and for concord and peace. 

My record of hard work for nearly a quarter of a 
century in the vineyard of the people proves, if it proves 
anything, that no man in all our land stands more 
squarely than I do for Justice, for home rule, and 
for the reserved rights of the State. I believe in 
the dignity and the rights of American citizenship, 
native and naturalized — at home and abroad — and I 
commend the patriotism of the Democratic members 
of the House of Representatives, which compelled the 
termination of the Russian treaty of 1832, and pledge 
myself to do all in my power in the future to preserve 
the sacred rights of American citizenship; and I declare 



86 THE BOSS, OR 

that no treaty should ever receive the sanction of our 
government which does not affirmatively recognize the 
unquestionable equality of all of our citizens, irrespec- 
tive of their religious beliefs, or, of the race or na- 
tionality of their origin, and which does not expressly 
guarantee the fundamental right of expatriation. 



PROUD OF BEING COMMONER. 

Our platform is explicit regarding the civil service. 
I am a firm believer in the merit system. The pages 
of the Congressional Record sustain me in this con- 
nection against adverse criticism. How I voted and 
what I have done are known. I appeal to that record 
for my justification, and affirm that if I am elected there 
will be no step backward in civil service reform, and 
the efficiency of the merit system will be^ promoted. 

They say I am a commoner. I am proud of that. 
I come from a farm and from humble surroundings. 
All that I am and all that I hope to be I owe to a good 
mother and an honest father. I have toiled up step by 
step from the bottom, from poverty and obscurity, and 
my career illustrates again the hope of the Republic, and 
demonstrates anew that the door of opportunity is still 
open to the humblest boy in all our land. 

The plain people know me, and they know what I 
have done. They know I can be trusted. They have 
seldom been deceived by one of their own. 

It is said I am a simple man — of little vanity and 
less prejudice. That is true. The only prejudice I have 
is against intrenched wrongs, to remedy which I have 
struggled all my life. If I go to Albany I shall try 
to follow in the footsteps of Silas Wright in the honesty 
and simplicity of a Democratic administration, and I 
shall endeavor to emulate the example of Samuel J. 



THE GOVERNOR 87 

Tilden for progressive reforms along constructive and 
constitutional lines. 

KNOWS NEW York's needs. 

My nomination for Governor came to me because for 
long years I worked for my party, and through my own 
exertions I earned the good will of the Democrats of 
my State by deeds done and works accomplished. I 
am no novice. I know the needs of New York. I am 
the candidate of a united party and an unshackled con- 
vention. I went to the convention, not as a candidate, 
but to fight for a principle — the principle of an open 
convention, a fair field, and no favor. 

I will go into office, if elected, without a promise 
except my promise to all the people to serve them faith- 
fully to the best of my ability. I am free, without en- 
tanglements, and shall remain free. If elected I will 
be the Governor of the people and the Executive Office 
will be in the Capitol. When I take the oath of Gov- 
ernor, I shall enforce the laws fearlessly and honestly 
and impartially — with malice toward none. William Sul- 
zer never had a boss, and his only master is himself. 

Those who know me best knpw that I stand firmly for 
certain fundamental principles — for personal liberty ; for 
civil and religious freedom ; for constitutional govern- 
ment ; for equality before the law; for equal rights to all 
and special privileges to none ; and for unshackled oppor- 
tunity as the beacon light of individual hope and the 
best guarantee for the perpetuity of our free institu- 
tions. 

HE IS AN optimist. 

I have no race or religious prejudices. I am charitable 
in all my views. I am an optimist. I have sympathy 
for all and know that good works constitute the most 



88 THE BOSS, OR 

enduring monument. I believe in my fellow-men, in 
the good of society generally, and I know that the world 
is growing better. I believe in the old integrities, in 
the new humanities, and declare with Burns — "A man's 
a man for a' that." 

The people have no fears for Democracy. True Demo- 
cracy will never die until the pillars of the Republic 
totter and crumble and liberty is no more. The future of 
Real Democracy is as secure as its past is glorious, and 
its ultimate success in the struggle for equal rights to all 
will be the crowning triumph of the progress of the race 
and the brightest page in the annals of human destiny. 

In conclusion let me reiterate what I have often said 
before — I am a Democrat, unafraid, free, progressive 
and independent ; and I have the courage of my con- 
victions. I know my duty and dare do it regardless of 
consequences. The past is secure, my face is to the 
future. My motto is onward with hope — forward with- 
out fear. 



THE GOVERNOR 89 



CHAPTER XL 

MR. SULZER'S GREAT CAMPAIGN FOR 
GOVERNOR. 

Returning Tammany leaders from the Syracuse con- 
vention were heard to express contempt for the man who 
had just been nominated for governor. They predicted 
that he would never be able to get along with the or- 
ganization. They made it plain that Sulzer had been 
forced on them by political events and that they thor- 
oughly distrusted him. Mr. Sulzer had always been inde- 
pendent, and was never considered by the insiders a 
Tammany man. 

The campaign was short. Sulzer toured the state in 
a special car, accompanied by political friends and news- 
paper correspondents. His speeches were clear and con- 
vincing. Sometimes he spoke 20 or 30 times a day. He 
demonstrated his ability as an orator and a campaigner. 

He was elected. 

The vote for the candidates for Governor was as fol- 
lows : 

William Sulzer, democrat 649,559 

Job E. Hedges, republican 444,105 

Oscar S. Straus, progressive 393,183 

No sooner had the result of the election been an- 
nounced than the governor-elect began to hear from 
Charles F. Murphy and other Tammany men about ap- 
pointments. They made it manifest that they intended 
to take charge of his administration; to lay down the 
law as to whom in the various counties he was to recog- 
nize in the distribution of patronage, and even went so 
far as to pick out beforehand the men who were to 



90 THE BOSS, OR 

surround him in a confidential capacity in the executive 
chamber. 

The first appointment of the Governor-elect was 
Chester C. Piatt, of the "Batavia Times," for secretary. 
Mr. Piatt was well-known for many years as one of 
Mr. Sulzer's indefatigable supporters for the nomination 
for governor. He had also proved himself a sincere 
progressive in politics and economic beliefs. His se- 
lection was hailed throughout the state by the anti-Tam- 
many democrats as the first omen by the new governor 
to be independent of Tammany. 

Governor-elect Sulzer spent considerable of his time 
after election at Washington winding up his affairs there. 
During that time he was besieged by office-seekers and 
politicians desiring appointments. He kept his own 
counsel, however, and made no promises. 

MURPHY OFFERS TO PAY SULZEr's DEBTS 

After Mr. Sulzer returned from Washington, and be- 
fore he was inaugurated, the Governor-elect had a 
memorable conference with Charles F. Murphy in Del- 
monico's. He spent the afternoon with the boss in his 
private rooms, and Mr. Murphy on that occasion grew 
very confidential. It was just prior to the time when 
]Mr. Sulzer was to go to Albany to assume his duties 
as governor. 

There was a friendly talk concerning the result of the 
election and plans for the session of the legislature. 
Suddenly Mr. Murphy referred to the financial diffi- 
culties of the governor-elect, and in a friendly way ex- 
pressed his desire to assist him. Mr. Sulzer" afterwards 
admitted that he was amazed at the knowledge which 
Murphy had gained of the details of his personal aflfairs. 

"I am willing to put up $100,000 to pay of¥ your debts 
and start you right as governor of the state," Murphy is 
declared to have said. When he saw that Sulzer was in- 



THE GOVERNOR 91 

clined to demur to acceptance of the offer, the boss in- 
stantly added: ''You know this really is a party matter. 
The organization should do that much to set you on 
your feet. You have been elected at less expense to 
the organization than any candidate for governor within 
my recollection." 

Sulzer continued to indicate his objection to the prop- 
osition, knowing well what it meant ; that if he in any 
degree accepted it that moment would he cease to be a 
free agent at Albany. 

Mr. Murphy continued to argue that there was nothing 
wrong in the governor receiving the benefit of the money 
contributed to the organization. ''Nobody need know 
anything about it," Murphy pointed out to Sulzer. "The 
organization is glad to help its friends when they need it." 
The boss showed he was familiar with Sulzer's affairs, 
a fact which all the more aroused the latter's suspicion 
as to the motive for making the offer. 

Alurphy repeated the offer, asking Sulzer to remember 
it was for the good of the Democratic party. 

"The organization," said Mr. Murphy, "doesn't want 
you to be hampered by debts when you go to Albany. 
We will allow you $1,000 a month for living expenses 
at the Executive Mansion. The organization wants you 
to live as you ought to live while you are governor of 
the state. We cleaned up a lot of money out of your 
campaign. I could afford to let you have what you want 
and never miss it." 

Sulzer refused. 

Mr. Murphy's bold attempt to place the elected gov- 
ernor of the state under financial obligations to himself 
left a lasting impression on Air. Sulzer's mind. Even 
then he foresaw trouble with the boss and wondered how 
he was going to maintain peace and be his own master. 

For his inauguration ceremonies, Governor Sulzer es- 
tablished several precedents. He dispensed with the mili- 
tary parade, which had been a spectacular event in the 



92 THE BOSS, OR 

inauguration of a governor from the beginning of the 
state government. He walked from the Executive Man- 
sion to the Capitol, where he was inaugurated in the 
assembly chamber. Never before, within the memory 
of the oldest inhabitant of Albany, had a governor been 
so democratic as to walk to the Capitol for his inaugura- 
tion. 

After the ceremonies in the assembly chamber, the 
governor established another precedent by appearing at 
the top of the great staircase at the front of the Capitol, 
and delivering an address to the waiting multitude which 
extended far out into the park and beyond the range of 
his voice. 

The Governor's inauguration speech was brief, 
but eloquent, and is now interesting in the light of sub- 
sequent events. Between the lines one may read that the 
Governor knew his duty, but feared that his path was 
not to be a rosy one, and that he was on his guard for 
attacks from within as well as without his party. 

Mr. Sulzer said: 

''Fellow Citizens : — I realize to the fullest extent the 
solemnity of the obligation I have just taken as the Gov- 
ernor of New York. Conscious of my own limitations I 
keenly appreciate the responsibilities it entails. 

''Grateful to the people who have honored me with 
their suffrages, I enter upon the performance of the du- 
ties of the office without a promise, except my pledge to 
all the people to serve them faithfully and honestly and 
to the best of my ability. I am free, without entangle- 
ments, and shall remain free. No influence controls me 
but the dictates of my conscience and my determination 
to do my duty, day in and day out, as I see the right, re- 
gardless of consequences. In the future, as in the past, I 
will walk the street called straight, and without fear 
and without favor I shall execute the laws justly and 
impartially — with malice toward none. 

"Those who know me best know that I stand firmly for 



THE GOVERNOR 93 

certain fundamental principles — for freedom of speech ; 
for the right of lawful assembly; for the freedom of the 
press ; for liberty under law ; for civil and religious free- 
dom; for constitutional government; for equality and 
justice to all; for home rule, and the reserved rights of 
the State ; for equal rights to every one, and special 
privileges to no one ; and for unshackled opportunity as 
the beacon light of individual hope and the best guar- 
antee for the perpetuity of our free institutions. 

''New York is the greatest State in the Union. It 
should ftlways stand as an exemplar of economical and 
efficient and progressive administration. As its Governor 
I shall, in so far as I can, give the people of the State, 
an honest, an efficient, an economical and a business-like 
administration of public affairs. I say business-like ad- 
visedly, because I assure the business men in every part 
of our State that they can rely on me at all times to do 
my utmost to promote the commercial interests of our 
commonwealth. I realize how important they are, and 
shall always be exceedingly careful to take no step that 
will jeopardize the financial and the commercial su- 
premacy of the first State in the Republic. 

''Suffice it to say that I am a friend of every business, 
whether big or little, so long as it is legitimate, and will 
always have its welfare in view in the administration of 
State affairs. To this end I shall work unceasingly for 
quicker and better transportation agencies, and for im- 
proved and larger terminal facilities, in order that New 
York shall continue to receive her just share of the 
trade and the commerce of the country. 

"It is my purpose to be the Governor of all the people, 
and, in so far as possible, to follow in the footsteps of 
Silas Wright in the honesty and the simplicity of my ad- 
ministration ; and to the best of my ability try to emulate 
the example of Samuel J. Tilden in my efforts for pro- 
gressive reforms along constructive and constitutional 
lines. 



94 THE BOSS, OR 

"Let me ask all to be patient and charitable. To avoid 
mistakes I must go slow. It is better to be slow than 
to be sorry. 

'T know that I am human, and that I shall make mis- 
takes in human ways. Being human I believe in the 
welfare of my fellow man, and whatever concerns the 
good of humanity appeals to me, and will ever have 
my constant care and earnest consideration. 

"Whatever I do as Governor will always be open to all 
and above board. I shall confide in the people, and I 
indulge the hope that when my official term, liiis day 
begun, comes to an end, that I shall have accomplished 
something to merit their approval, and to justify the con- 
fidence they have reposed in my intentions. Hence I shall 
promise little, but work unceasingly to secure the things 
now demanded by the people. They know an ounce of 
performance is worth a ton of promise, and they will 
judge my administration not by what I say but what I 
do hereafter. 

"The hour has struck, and the task of administrative 
reform is mine. The cause is the cause of the State, and 
is worthy of the zealous efforts of any man. I grasp the 
opportunity the people now give me, and am resolved 
to shirk no responsibility ; to work for the welfare of the 
people ; to correct every existing abuse ; to abolish useless 
offices, and wherever possible consolidate bureaus and 
commissions to secure greater economy and more effi- 
ciency ; to uproot official corruption ; to raise higher 
the standard of official integrity ; to simplify the methods 
of orderly administration ; to advance the prosperity of 
all the people ; to be ever dissatisfied with conditions 
that can be improved ; to promote the common weal ; to 
guard the honor, and protect the rights of the Empire 
State ; and last but not least to reduce governmental ex- 
penditures to the minimum, and thus lessen as much as 
possible the heavy burdens of taxation. 



THE GOVERNOR 95 



CHAPTER XH. 

AT FIRST, MR. SULZER TRIED HARD TO BE AT 
PEACE WITH MR. MURPHY. 

At the beginning of the Sulzer administration the 
foes of Tammany predicted that the Governor would be 
an organization executive. 

The new Governor, was suave, cautious and diplo- 
matic. It was apparent he wanted to go along the lines 
of least resistance. 

Those intimate friends of the governor who claimed to 
know that he was not a Tammany man seemed 
disappointed at the manner in which Governor 
Sulzer began his term of office in Albany. Still, 
they counseled patience, pointing out that Dix had per- 
mitted Tammany to be so entrenched in the state govern- 
ment, that the new executive had to proceed cautiously 
to undo what his predecessor had done. 

Many of Mr. Sulzer's progressive friends, during this 
period complained to him of his apparent friendliness to 
Tammany and the Governor's usual reply was that he 
was trying to keep peace and at the same time carry 
through the legislature his program of reform. To one 
progressive democrat, long known throughout the state, 
as an unrelenting opponent of Tammany, Governor Sul- 
zer said: 

Charles F. Murphy will soon discover, if he doesn't 
know it now, that I intend to be the real governor. Be 
patient." 

To another democratic chairman of a county commit- 
tee Governor Sulzer, early in the year, declared : 

''Charles F. Murphy will never control another state 



96 



THE BOSS, OR 



THE GOVERNOR AND THE PRETENDER 




From the Albany Knickerbocker Press 

WHO ARE YOU FOR? 



THE GOVERNOR 97 

convention. A real direct primary law will prevent that. 
We will get that before I get through.'' 

These remarks, made occasionally to his visitors, were 
an index of Mr. Sulzer's real attitude toward the boss, 
even when he was trying to live in harmony with the 
Murphyized State Organization. But he was careful 
not to indicate this feeling publicly, and to all direct ques- 
tions put to him by newspaper men, calculated to test his 
relations with Murphy, his customary reply, in substance, 
was: *T am not seeking a quarrel. I am a man of peace." 

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Martin H. Glynn was 
a frequent visitor to the executive mansion which Gov- 
ernor Sulzer had renamed the "People's House." At 
these conferences between the governor and the lieu- 
tenant governor various affairs of state were discussed. 
At nearly all of them Mr. Glynn urgently pressed upon 
the governor the importance of using his influence to 
obtain from the legislature a genuine primary law. He 
reminded Mr. Sulzer that the democratic platforms in 
1910 and 1912 had promised the people of the state that 
such a law would be passed, and that the Dix adminis- 
tration had been greatly criticised because it failed to 
fulfil the promise. Glynn pretended to be with Sulzer 
and urged war on Tammany. But Glynn was all the 
time undermining the Governor, and betraying him to 
Murphy. 

The governor was then busying himself In getting other 
legislation through which he deemed vital to the state, 
included among which were the stock exchange bills, 
measures to reorganize the labor and health departments, 
and providing for workingmen's compensation. 

In his consultations with Tammany leaders In the 
legislature about this time. Governor Sulzer advised a 
policy of harmony, saying that he was willing to 
give Tammany the larger share of appointments, but that 
some should go to the leaders known to be opposed to 
Tammany dictation upstate. He contended that such men 



98 THE BOSS, OR 

as Smith M. Weed, Joseph Murphy, John N. Carhsle, 
Thomas M. Osborne, John K. Sague, L. N. Antidale, 
W. J. Connors and Frank Mott, should be made to feel 
that they were a part of the organization. 

From the average Tammany man the names of these 
men invariably brought angry comment. The governor 
was informed that any recognition of these enemies of the 
organization would be very objectionable to Mr. Murphy. 
Mr. Carlisle, however, was appointed by the governor 
chairman of a committee of inquiry to investigate state 
departments for the purpose of improving administrative 
methods. The other two members of the committee, 
John H. Delaney and H. Gordon Lynn, were Tammany 
men, foisted on the Governor by Murphy. 

February 2, after having been a month in office. Gov- 
ernor Sulzer in an interview with a reporter for "The 
Knickerbocker Press" expressed his confidence in being 
able to carry through, the nine big pledges made in the 
democratic platform and in his speeches before election. 

"Some of the newspapers seem to be growing impa- 
tient," he said, "over what they consider delay in my get- 
ting into a fight with somebody, but it isn't my place 
to seek a quarrel. I am endeavoring to co-operate with 
all who want to accomplish what we promised to do. 
Depend upon it, I shall not back away from a position 
once I make up my mind that I am right." 

Among the pledges which the governor then admitted 
he considered vital was the one on direct primaries, 
but he declined to discuss the details of the measure. 
He was more willing to talk of the work being done by 
his committee of inquiry appointed to examine the state 
departments for the purpose of bringing about efficiency 
and economy. 

It is conceded now that the first bitter hostility on "the 
part of the Tammany leaders toward Governor Sulzer 
came when John A. Hennessy, appointed executive au- 
ditor, testified before the committee of inquiry concern- 



THE GOVERNOR 99 

ing the graft he had discovered in contracts for restora- 
tion of burned portions of the state Capitol. The reve- 
lations resulted in the forced resignation of Herman W. 
Hoefer, the Tammany state architect, and a thorough 
reorganization of that department by the Governor. 

FIRST PROOF OF COURAGE. 

Here was the first proof that Mr. Sulzer dared to in- 
vestigate a department over which a Tammany man 
presided, and to direct his investigator to make the facts 
public. This, indeed, was political ''treason," as incom- 
prehensible as it was unpardonable to the normal Tam- 
manv mind. 

"My administration," he said in February, "will not 
be remembered so much by the appointments I make 
to office as the laws I am able to get, of lasting benefit 
to the people. What I say for publication from day to 
day will not be considered of much consequence unless 
it is followed by the doing of the things desired done." 

Governor Sulzer was willing to give Tammany a few 
offices if, in return, he could get the legislative reforms 
he had set his heart on. 

In the meantime he was being condemned by his 
progressive friends for handing over the spoils of 
office to his enemies. They predicted that he would 
soon find himself in the same predicament into which 
Governor Dix had been forced — entrenchment of Tam- 
many behind powerful offices, with no substantial legis- 
lation to benefit the people in return. 

When he named Edward E. McCall to succeed William 
R. Willcox as chairman of the public service commission 
of the first district there was dissent from some of the 
anti-Tammany democrats who were fighting against the 
pending contract between the city and the Interborough 
company. The appointment of McCall is said to have 
been the reason that severed a long political and per- 



100 THE BOSS, OR 

sonal friendship between the Governoi and WilHam R. 
Hearst. 

At this time it was assumed that John N. Carlisle, of 
Watertown, whom the governor had made chairman of 
his committee of inquiry, was to be appointed chairman 
of the upstate public service commission to succeed 
Frank W. Stevens. Carlisle was opposed by Charles F. 
Murphy. Governor Sulzer was informed by Murphy 
that Tammany's choice for the chairmanship was George 
M. Palmer, chairman of the democratic state committee. 
The governor refused to appoint Palmer. 

Lieutenant Governor Martin H. Glynn and Murphy 
demanded that Patrick E. McCabe succeed Mr. Douglas 
as public service commissioner. McCabe, as was well 
known, was the factotum of Charles F. Murphy in Al- 
bany county, and the one man, more than any other, re- 
sponsible for the political advancement of Mr. Glynn. 

Governor Sulzer declined to appoint McCabe, and 
declared afterwards that he was astounded at the propo- 
sition of the Boss and Glynn that Palmer and McCabe 
should be appointed to positions so important, for, out- 
side of their utter lack of experience and training for 
the places it was pointed out that the people would never 
tolerate the appointment of political bosses on a com- 
mission dealing directly with public service corporations. 

GLYNN SHOWS THE CLOVEN HOOF, AND PREDICTS IN FEB- 
RUARY HE WILL BE GOVERNOR. 

Although there was already evidence of friction be- 
tween the governor and Charles F. Murphy early in 
February, Mr. Sulzer and Mr. Glynn, so far as outward 
appearances could be judged, were still on friendly terms. 
Governor Sulzer trusted his associate, as he did other 
Tammany friends, implicitly, and, during thejr confer- 
ences from day to day, confided to them all his legisla- 
tive plans. 



THE GOVERNOR 101 

But while Mr. Glynn appeared to Governor Sulzer as 
being in sympathy with his program, and indicated a de- 
sire to assist him in giving it effect, the lieutenant gov- 
ernor, according to reliable witnesses, was all the while 
on the most confidential relations with the governor's 
political enemies. Toward the latter part of February, 
Mr. Glynn sent for Jay W. Forrest, of Albany, to come 
and see him in his office at the Capitol. 

"Jay, you are making a great mistake in fighting the 
organization," said Glynn. "Those fellows in New 
York City are the ones you have got to be with, if you 
ever expect to amount to anything in politics. McCabe 
is their representative and you have to be with him if 
you expect to get any office or favor of any kind. What 
is the use. Jay of running your head up against a stone 
wall. 

''Yoii knozv I once had an idea that I could get some- 
zvhere by being independent, but I gave that up long ago. 
Why dont you come in and be unth the organisation f If 
you do, even nozv, you zvill be zuell taken care of." 

'T have talked with Sulzer," Glynn said to Mr. 
Forrest, "and I can get him to take care of you. There 
will be a good appointment for you." 

"We got to talking about Governor Sulzer," said Mr. 
Forrest, "after Mr. Glynn delivered that lecture to me 
about the foolishness of being independent in politics. 
The lieutenant governor, I recall very distinctly, said: 

" 'Murphy has tried to get that fellow downstairs (the 
governor) to do certain things, and if he does not do 
these things I will be governor of the state.' 

"That happened toward the last of February and it 
was not known just how Governor Sulzer was going to 
act. He hadn't been living up to what I considered the 
promises of the platform, and it looked as if he was 
going to be another Dix. For that reason I attached no 
particular significance to the words of Mr. Glvnn. But 
what he said before election about the possibility of the 



102 THE BOSS, OR 

Governor's removal, and what he said at that meeting 
in his office in the Capitol in February, came home to 
me with re-in forced meaning, in the light of subsequent 
events. 

"I am stating the facts in as nearly the language as I 
can now put them, and I leave the people to draw their 
own inference," continued Forrest. "For some years 
past, Mr. Glynn often undertook to tell me what a fool 
I was not to get inside the organization, and I could 
have pretty near anything I wanted. At all of these 
conversations he set himself down as being in harmony 
with Tammany, with Murphy and McCabe, and told me 
again and again that my only salvation was to get into 
the Tammany band wagon. He particularly wanted to 
impress on me that McCabe was the whole thing in 
Albany county, and that McCabe was the authorized 
agent of Charles F. Murphy. 

' *Tn the summer of 1912, weeks before the democratic 
state convention at Syracuse, I met Mr. Glynn and he 
said to me: 

'' 7 have a good chance to he nominated for governor. 
Murphy is the zvhole thing in this state, and if you zvant 
anything you have got to he with him. Dix cant he re- 
nominated because he cant he re-elected. If you want 
anything you have to he zvith McCahe in Alhany county.' 

Dinged in Ears All Summer 

"That kind of talk was dinged into my ears all that 
summer. Mr. Glynn seemed to know the inside of the 
Murphy game, and he was giving it to me to^persuade me 
to come out into the open for the organization." 

About August 20, 1912, Mr. Glynn sent word to Mr. 
Forrest that he would like to see him at the newspaper 
office of the former. 

"Jay, I think I will be nominated for governor this 
year. If I am not nominated for governor I can surely 



THE GOVERNOR 103 

be nominated for lieutenant-governor. Would you ad- 
vise me to take it?'' 

''Yes, I would advise you to accept the nomination for 
lieutenant-governor," Air. Forrest replied. "There is al- 
ways the possibility of death and then you would be gov- 
ernor." 

"Yes, or removal," instantly added Glynn. 
''That conversation took place between us," said For- 
rest, "when we were on very friendly terms and six 
weeks before the Democratic state convention was held 
at Syracuse." 

Mr. Forrest said that although he gave no thought 
to Mr. Glynn's prediction that he would be nominated for 
one office or the other at the time, his remark "or re- 
moval" took on a serious significance when Charles F. 
Murphy's plot to remove Governor Sulzer revealed it- 
self. 

Was the plot to remove Governor Sulzer being con- 
sidered by Tammany leaders even in the summer of 
1912? 

Did they foresee two months before the convention 
that Sulzer, always active as a candidate, was the most 
available man in that year of independent upheaval in 
politics and that if Martin H. Glynn, their first choice, 
could not be nominated it might be wise to take a chance 
on Sulzer? 

These and similar questions naturally force themselves 
on the mind in view of what subsequently happened. 
Mr. Glynn's conversations with Mr. Forrest during 
this period as well as with other close friends showed 
that he was in the confidence of Charles F. Mur- 
phy, Tammany boss ; with Justice Daniel F. Cohalan 
and other "king-makers" in Tammany, They showed 
also that plans for the Syracuse convention and for events 
after the convention and even following the election of 
that year were all being laid out carefully by the Demo- 
cratic bosses and that Mr. Glynn was being advised of 



104 THE BOSS, OR 

all their political projects, if indeed he was not one of 
the chief planners. 

Six weeks ahead of the convention, Glynn was sure that 
if he could not be nominated for governor he certainly 
would be named for lieutenant governor, and even then 
was considering the possibility of removal of the governor. 
That thought would hardly come to his mind had it not 
been discussed between himself and those who were push- 
ing him to the front as a candidate. Taken in connection 
with other significant facts, Mr, Glynn's contemplation of 
what might happen to the elected governor sheds a flood 
of light on the situation. 



THE GOVERNOR 105 



CHAPTER XHI. 

THE BOSS CHARLES FRANCIS MURPHY. 

Vicious Attacks Upon Governor Sulzer All Are 
Inspired by Boss Murphy 

[Editorial from The Reform Bulletin, Albany, N. Y., 

July 18, 1913] 

We have said little in The Bulletin about the many 
vicious attacks upon Governor Sulzer, made or inspired 
by Boss Murphy of Tammany Hall, as we have thought 
it scarcely worth while. Governor Sulzer's life record 
is an open book. His record in Congress was a credit- 
able one and his record as Governor has certainly been 
most commendable. We may not agree with everything 
he has done, for like the rest of us, he is human, but we 
know his heart is right. 

We do not believe the good people of this State will 
give any credit to the vicious, scandalous attacks being 
made upon Governor Sulzer by such a character as 
Charles F. Murphy, the Tammany Boss. They are fab- 
rications, instigated by the Boss because Governor Sulzer 
will not do what the Boss wants. That explains it all. 

Governor Sulzer knows things about Boss Murphy 
which we think he ought to -tell and which we think at the 
proper time he will tell. Murphy's barroom training has 
not properly fitted him for directing the afifairs and the 
destiny of this great State. Twenty years ago Murphy 
was wearing a white apron and running a saloon on 
Avenue C ; two years ago he was wearing a silk hat and 
running the whole State, including the Governor, Senate 
and Assembly, and most of the State departments ! This 



106 THE BOSS, OR 

year Murphy has been able to run only the Legislature 
and some of the State departments, but he has not been 
able to run Governor Sulzer. 

Early this year, Murphy met the Governor and told 
him plainly that if he did not make the appointments 
which he (Murphy) recommended that he would ruin his 
administration and disgrace the Governor personally. 
Governor Sulzer refused positively to make the appoint- 
ments desired by Murphy and now Murphy is trying to 
carry out his threat to ruin the Governor's administration 
and disgrace him personally. The decent people of this 
State ought to stand by the Governor for the 'enemies 
he has made. It is to the Governor's everlasting credit 
that he is now being attacked by such a vile character as 
Boss Murphy and his henchmen. The same gang will 
doubtless devise some more "frame-ups" against the 
Governor, but in the end they will all prove boomerangs 
against Tammany, who started them. 

The Bulletin did not support Governor Sulzer for elec- 
tion last year. We thought he was too close to Tam- 
many, but he is certainly far enough away from Murphy 
now. He has burned the bridges behind him and he will 
never return to Tammany Hall. Tammany will never 
allow Sulzer to be Governor in the future, if they can 
prevent it. But the best element of the Democratic party 
all over the State is with Governor Sulzer, and we be- 
lieve the best element of all parties is with him. If the 
State-wide direct primary bill is not passed before the 
next State conventions meet, Murphy and Barnes will 
doubtless both nominate men whom they can rule as their 
puppets while Governor. This is why we urge Governor 
Sulzer to stand firm for the passage of the" State-wide 
Direct Primary bill. 

Remember, if the corrupt bosses could control Gov- 
ernor Sulzer they zvould not be attacking him now. Do 
not forget that the Governor is Ughting graft, fighting 
for direct primaries; fighting for good government. 



THE GOVERNOR ^ 107 

Every honest citizen in our State should nozv sustain the 
Governor. If Suher is beaten by the bosses the cause of 
reform mill be checked for many, many years. Help all 
you can. 

The editor of The Bulletin has watched with great 
interest the battle between Governor Sulzer and the 
Bosses, and we believe that he is sincere and firmly de- 
termined to do his very best to secure passage of a State- 
wide direct primary law which will be of untold value to 
the moral forces of this State in the years to come. 

Every citizen, irrespective of his political affiliation, 
who believes in clean government and honest politics, 
and who is opposed to graft of every kind, should back 
up Governor Sulzer in the terrible battle which he is now 
waging for the welfare of our State. 

O. R. Miller, Editor. 

WHY THE GRAFTERS HOUND THE GOV- 
ERNOR. 
Interesting Letter From Governor Sulzer. 

State of New York — Executive Chamber. 

Albany, July 14, 1913. 

Rev. O. R. Miller, 

61 State Street, Albany, N. Y. 

My dear Mr. Miller: — Yours received. I want to thank 
you for all you are doing to help me in the struggle to 
give the people of New York honest government. 

You have no conception of the obstacles put in my way. 
Neither have you any idea of the difficulties that beset 
me. Often I am sick at heart; but then words of assur- 
ance like yours come to hand, and I take renewed hope 
to go forward with determination. 

When the political bosses found out they could not 
control me, and make me a rubber stamp, they threatened 
to destroy me politically, and they have been doing every- 
thing in their power, ever since, to that end. 



108 THE BOSS, OR 

However, I have no fear of the ultimate result. The 
people will win. The truth will prevail, and right makes 
might. In the future as in the past, you, and all our 
friends, can rely on me to do my duty to all the people, 
as I see the right, and God give me the light, regardless 
of political or personal consequences. 

Of course, the grafters are hounding me. Mr. Murphy 
and his hirelings necessarily are traducing me. They 
have had detectives following me around, and searching 
high and low to find out everything I have ever done 
since my birth. Why? Just to get some mud, if pos- 
sible, to throw at me. 

However, I can assure you there is nothing in 
the charges they make against me. Most of the stuff 
they get in the newspapers is pure fabrication. They 
know this, and they know it will not in the last analysis 
hurt me; but they also know it worries me and annoys 
Mrs. Sulzer. 

When Boss Murphy told me he would destroy me if 
I did not do his bidding, I defied him to do his worst, 
and declared I would continue to do my best. The fight 
for good government will go on. The bridges are burned. 
With the aid of the decent, God-fearing people of our 
State I shall go forward, come what may. 

With best wishes, believe me. 

Very sincerely, your friend, 

WM. SULZER. 



THE GOVERNOR 109 



CHAPTER XIV. 
GRAFT! GRAFT! GRAFT! 

A series of articles contributed by Governor Sulzer 
to the columns of one hundred and twenty-five news- 
papers in the United States during July and August, 
1913, attracted nation-wide attention, on account of their 
startling revelations of corruption in the Department of 
Highways, the Department of Public Works, the Prisons 
Department and the State Architect's office, coupled with 
the most resolute expressions of a determination to drive 
the grafters from the public treasury, and have them 
punished for their crimes. These articles arraigning well- 
intrenched and shameless systems of graft were accom- 
panied by the first blows of a war of extermination, dealt 
chiefly through the investigations of John A. Hennessy 
and George W. Blake — investigations which were also 
followed by grand jury indictments and convictions. 

These articles possess peculiar historic interest be- 
cause the purification of the politics of the State which 
they foreshadowed undoubtedly led to Charles F. 
Murphy's determination to remove Governor Sulzer from 
office. They are republished, together with the last mes- 
sage which Governor Sulzer sent to the Legislature, in 
which he reviews the work of the regular session, and 
the recommendations which he made in special messages 
to the extraordinary session, the chief of which was the 
passage of a bill providing for state-wide direct primaries, 
in order that boss rule with its accompanying corruption 
might be destroyed, by permitting the people to nominate 
all State officers. The message also gives a list of un- 
confirmed nominations sent to the Senate, among the 



no THE BOSS, OR 

number being those of James M. Lynch, for Commis- 
sioner of Labor; Charles J. Chase and WilHam E. Lef- 
fingwell to be PubHc Service Commissioners, and John 
DeWitt Warner to be a Trustee of Cornell University. 

All of which goes to show that Governor Sulzer was 
removed not because of the offenses with which he was 
charged, but because he refused to do Charles F. 
Murphy's bidding, and because he relentlessly pursued 
Murphy's corrupt henchmen, whose hands were in the 
public treasury. 

ARTICLE L 

PARADISE OF GRAFT IN ALBANY EXPOSED— 
$34,000,000 SPENT IN A YEAR WITHOUT A 
SINGLE AUDIT— WHOLESALE PROOF OF 
PADDED PAYROLLS— EVIDENCE OF $17,- 
000,000 OF PEOPLE'S MONEY STOLEN OR 
WASTED. 

By Wm. Sulzer. 

Honeycombed with graft, the State of New York, as 
my investigators are to-day revealing the inside work- 
ings-, is a lesson to her sister States in the Union. 

When I took office as Governor of the State last Janu- 
ary, on the very first day, my attention was abruptly 
called to the fact that during the year just ended there 
had been spent in the State $34,000,000 WITHOUT A 
SINGLE AUDIT. 

On the second day that I was in office a^messenger 
presented to me bills amounting to hundreds of thousands 
of dollars, pointing out to me where I was to sign my 
name. If I had attached my signature to those bills they 
would have been immediately paid, and yet the messenger 
thought that he was telling me nothing unusual when 
he said that other Governors had signed bills that way. 



THE GOVERNOR 111 

and that one Governor had left a rubber stamp outside 
his office with the messenger, so that he would not be 
bothered. 

''Leave those bills there," I said, "and I'll look into 
them. The rubber stamp period is over." 

Within a week I found that there was not. only care- 
lessness and waste in the handling of the people's money, 
but there was theft, theft of the baldest kind. In the 
very halls of the Capitol itself we found the State being 
robbed, with almost no attempt being made to cover up 
the crime or the criminals. 

Men were being paid for doing a hundred days' work 
in a month, some men for doing twenty-four hours' 
work a day. The cheapest kind of material was fur- 
nished to the State at the highest prices, padded payrolls 
were as common as flies in August, and here and there 
and everywhere was GRAFT ! GRAFT ! GRAFT ! 

A Salutary Lesson 

I have written this series of articles on graft in 
a great State because I believe that there is a great les- 
son not only for the people of New York, but for the 
people of the United States, in the exposures that we 
are making. 

I am writing them l)ecause honesty in public life is the 
first essential in the health of the Nation. While it is 
a horrible thing that there should be such thievery and 
crookedness in the State, it is an encouraging thing that 
it is being found out. 

In the first article J purpose to show how the grafters 
became so brazen that they did not hesitate to steal 
under the very nose of the Governor, despite the fact 
that my first and most important pledge to the people 
when I was inaugurated Governor was that I would give 
the people an honest and economical administration. 

In the second article I shall take up the grafting on 



112 THE BOSS, OR 

the highways of New York State, where milHons of 
dollars of the people's money have been stolen. Al- 
ready we know that six millions has been criminally mis- 
spent. Of one place we know, where the graft amounted 
to $5,000 a mile. Think of the possibilities when thou- 
sands of miles of road are covered by the good roads 
plans of the State. Contractors who were paid $10,000 a 
mile did almost nothing but throw gravel on the road ; 
and in some places roads that cost as much as the Appian 
Way of the Romans, which has lasted since it was built 
before the Christian Era to the present day, have not 
lasted a single winter. 

In the history of graft the roads of New York State 
are easily entitled to first place. 

Dealing with Criminals 

No division of government is more important than that 
dealing with the treatment of criminals. What con- 
stitutes proper and curative treatment of the men in 
prisons is something that every thinking man and woman 
must be interested in. For that reason it is perfectly 
proper that the progress of a State may be properly 
judged by the condition of its prison department. 

It is of this I will treat in my series of articles be- 
cause the lesson of the conduct of the Prison Depart- 
ment of New York State, humiliating as the narrative 
will be, is one that^I want to see spread far and wide. 
Think of conditions where prisoners are actually driven 
insane by inhuman caretakers. "Think of the criminal 
who, taken charge of by the State, becomes sick and 
finds when he calls for medical attendance — to which he 
as a human being has every right — that he is treated 
worse than a dog, and is finally driven hopelessly in- 
sane. 

My first investigations into this large subject show 
that the prisons were absolutely in the hands of the 



THE GOVERNOR 113 

politicians and the grafters. As an instance of their 
daring and greed I will mention one case, what is known 
as the Great Meadow Prison. This prison was deliberately 
built down in a hollow, on unhealthy soil, part of it on 
quicksand, when surrounding this very spot is high, 
healthy, desirable and purchasable land. Any of the 
healthy high lands could have been bought for $5,000. 
But no, $92,000 had to be paid for the most undesirable 
and unhealthy piece of land in the vicinity. 

The Shame of the Senate 

In one of the series it has seemed to me that, unwill- 
ing as I am to deal in personalities, I should tell the 
real facts of the Stilwell case, which has, not inap- 
propriately, been called ''the shame of the Senate." All 
over this country there is a demand for young men to go 
into the Legislatures and take up the great progressive 
reforms that are crying for enactment. Everything that 
is done that will point the pitfalls and dangers ahead is 
a benefit to the young men who are elected to the Legis- 
latures for the first time, or hope to be elected. 

In the. fifth article I have discussed the placing of the 
State on a business basis — for, after all, that is the 
problem that I find before me if I would keep my oath 
of office and my promise to the people to furnish an 
honest and honorable administration. New York is the 
great commercial State of the Union. Its supremacy in 
wealth and power is admitted everywhere. The great- 
est business concerns of the country have their head- 
quarters here. 

And yet New York State conducts its business, which 
involves an expenditure of $50,000,000 a year, with every 
economic waste and less regard for business methods than 
the most primitive wayside country store. Supplies are 
bought not only at retail prices, but frequently at the 
highest possible retail prices. Different departments buy 



114 THE BOSS, OR 

where they like and pay what they Hke, and nobody has 
the power to tell them to stop and use the same intelli- 
gence and economy that a corner grocer would do in 
the purchase of his goods. Employes in one department 
are paid twice the salaries of employes of the same grade, 
the same intelligence and the same ability in another de- 
partment, only because the head of the department with 
the high-priced employes has a little more political "pull" 
and is more anxious to build up a political machine. 

A Gigantic Undertaking 

To remedy these abuses and introduce order and sys- 
tem and business methods in the State and finally place 
it on a real, substantial basis, is the gigantic work that I 
have before me in the eighteen months of my administra- 
tion. 

I have been in office now for six months, and in that 
time I have learned enough to be able to say without 
fear of contradiction that in the past three years 
$50,000,000 of the people's money has been wasted or 
stolen. Seventeen million dollars a year for one State 
means that if that proportion holds for the other States 
in the Union, $170,000,000 of the people's money through- 
out this country has been lost — almost enough money to 
run the five greatest States of the Union, and enough 
money to feed the poor of the world. 

New York is the greatest business State In the Union. 
We are all proud of her business supremacy, the people 
of California as much as the people of Maine. And yet, 
as a business proposition, the State government is prob- 
ably the worst in the Union. 

Incidentally, I want to say here that, despite the en- 
deavors of some people to misconstrue my words and 
misunderstand my attitude, I am as much a friend of 
the honest business man as I am of the laboring man. 
There are men in Wall Street who are fighting graft 



THE GOVERNOR 115 

just as hard as I am, and who are just as anxious as I 
am to clean up the crookedness. 

When the members of the committee from the Stock 
Exchange called to see me to discuss the measures that I 
favored for reforming that great concern, they were 
doubtless surprised when I repeated to them that I con- 
sidered that I was doing them a great service by in- 
sisting that their business must meet with the condi- 
tions that the public demanded. 

How THE State Was Fleeced 

To show by what means the State government was 
^'fleeced," let me give some details. One of my first 
discoveries was that eight men were drawing pay for 
doing 100 days' work, each, in one month on the Capitol, 
and not the coldest month at that. 

Wlien we called for an explanation as to how this 
was done, the answer of the contracting firm was that 
the men supposed to be electricians had worked twenty 
hours a day for twenty-seven consecutive days in the 
month. When this firm was asked to produce the time- 
keeper who checked up the progress of this wonderful 
industry, he was found to be a man in a hospital, 
physically and mentally incapacitated from doing the work 
for which he drew pay. 

Being in a hospital, the timekeeper had been content 
to draw pay for one regular day of eight hours. 

Is it any wonder, in the face of this typical political 
outrageous theft, that I have said that the graft that 
has been going on in the State of New York makes 
the crowd responsible for it dwindle the Tweed gang 
into the insignificance of "pikers ?" 

Under the same contract, $2,000 was charged for 
moving the furniture in and out of the Secretary of 
State's office while it was being wired. This extraordi- 
nary sum was reached by charging for electricians at the 



116 THE BOSS, OR 

full pay of electricians and heavy overtime charges. The 
only wonder is that the contractors did not engage 
bankers, opera singers and poets to move out the furni- 
ture, and charge for its removal at bankers' and opera 
singers' regular prices. 

James Bryce says that in 1882 there were only seven 
States in the Union where there was raised for State 
purposes more than $2,000,000. In that year the rev- 
enue raised by the State of New York was $7,690,416. 
To-day the State government is costing the people from 
$55,000,000 to $60,000,000, and the most careful in- 
vestigators declare that it should not cost more than 
$25,000,000. Of the difference there is, as we have es- 
tablished by our investigations up to date — and I say it 
with regret that I fear we have only scratched the sur- 
face — $17,000,000 that we know is waste and graft. 

Buncombe to the Grafters 

When I became Governor of the State, on January 1, 
I said in my message to the Legislature: 

*'The way to stop extravagance is to retrench and 
economize. A cursory examination into State affairs 
convinces me that many expenditures can be stopped 
and efficiency promoted if every State officer will clean 
house, stop waste and practice every economy consistent 
with good government and the orderly administration of 
public affairs. 

''Let us do our best, day in and day out, to save wher- 
ever it is possible, and make honesty and simplicity, 
economy and efficiency, the watchwords of 'our admin- 
istration of the people's business." 

Despite the fact that I heard that the politicians, and 
even others whom I ought to have been able to count 
on for support, were murmuring that this was "bun- 
combe," I had even then a pretty definite impression 
that there was much waste, but I did not know that there 



THE GOVERNOR 117 

was so much dishonesty. Not until the Committee of 
Inquiry which I appointed almost immediately on taking 
office and the executive auditor, Mr. John A. Hennessy, 
began making their reports on their discoveries was it 
evident that not unbusinesslike methods alone prevailed 
in the State, but the most businesslike methods of the 
criminal order were even then, under a change of ad- 
ministration, being continued. 

The instances of grafting that have been referred to 
above occurred where one would think that a certain 
amount of caution and care would have been exercised, 
even if the politicians and the contractors thought that 
my protestations of honesty and economical administra- 
tion were luit half intended. 

So bad were the general conditions that our first dis- 
coveries were in the Capitol itself. Several years ago 
there was a fire in the State Capitol, a building that in 
itself summons up memories of graft that will never be 
efifaced as long as it stands, and the damage done neces- 
sitated rebuilding and rewiring that before it is done 
will cost nearly $2,000,000. 

An Electrical Mixup 

When Mr. Hennessy began his investigation one of the 
first things he discovered was that there were two elec- 
trical companies working on the rewiring of the Capitol. 
Asked the reason for this, he was told by the State 
Architect, under whose supervision the work was being 
done, that one of the firms was at work on the job when 
my predecessor requested him to put another firm on the 
job. This he immediately did, but kept the other firm at 
work also, following the example of the dyspeptic who, 
when ordered to take a glass of milk and a roll for 
dinner, reported that he had followed instructions, but 
that the milk and roll had evidently not agreed with the 
beer and pickles that he had eaten first. 



118 THE BOSS, OR 

The firm that was originally at work has had its bills 
paid, although there were unnecessary expenditures that 
should not have been allowed. The firm that was super- 
imposed on the job has had its bills held up and the State 
will know more about some of those bills before a dollar 
of them is paid. 

A Sermon in "Politics" 

There was a complete sermon in "politics" in the story 
of that rewiring. There were, by the engaging of two 
companies, double overhead charges of supervisors and 
foremen and for double timekeepers, as the work was 
being done on a percentage basis. Not only were men 
put on the payroll of this company who did no work, but 
names of men whom it is impossible to find and who 
probably never existed, were placed on the payroll. In 
one case two men, members of the Mason's Union, were 
found, out of a payroll of eight, and they declared that 
they never saw the other six men who were supposed to 
be working with them and for whom the State was 
paying not only high wages, but a percentage to the 
company that collected the wages and attested that the 
men had done the work. 

The reckless indifiference to outward appearances was 
shown in the bills put in. Under a previous State Archi- 
tect, who had undoubtedly supervised the work, the per- 
centage of labor was $1.89 to $1 of material. Under the 
grafting system the percentage of labor was $10.94 to $1 
of material. From the middle of October to the 27th of 
November there was absolutely no attempt to pay atten- 
tion to the conventions, and bills claiming that it took 
$3,002 worth of labor to put $138 worth of material in 
place were presented. 

The Contractor in Politics 

I found evidences all over the building of the political 



THE GOVERNOR 



119 



"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?'' 




From the Albany Knickerbocker Press 

THE TREASON OF TAMMANY. 



130 THE BOSS, OR 

use of the contractor. Everywhere were men who had 
been put on the pay roll because some politician or office- 
holder wanted it done, and in one instance we found the 
brother of a well-known politician down as an electrician. 
When he was summoned he testified that he had done 
no work of that kind. The engineer employed by the 
State Architect said when we began to investigate that it 
would take $125,000 to complete the wiring of the 
Capitol, while my consulting engineer declared that he 
would get a reputable contractor who would give a bond 
that it could be done for $40,000 at the most. 

There was something almost engaging in the admission 
of one man who stated to us that he had resigned a $200 
a month position in the State Architect's office to super- 
vise all the electrical work on a 5 per cent, basis, thereby 
bringing his income up to $1,500 a month. 

''Did you supervise all the work?'' he was asked. 

''Oh, no," he replied, almost indignant that the investi- 
gator should think that he would work to the injury of 
his health. 

"Did you draw a percentage for all the work done?" 

"Oh, yes," was the unhesitating response, as if to neg- 
lect to take all possible of the State's money, whether 
earned or not, was not only a blunder but a crime. 

Dickering With Specifications 

One of the great sources of graft not only in this 
State, but in all States, as investigations elsewhere have 
shown, has been in the changing of specifications after a 
contract has been let. This, of course, canrj,ot be done 
except where the State or the officials are corrupt or 
willfully stupid. The contractor who bids to supply a 
material that will cost him $100,000 and intends to 
charge this sum to the State, but intends to supply ma- 
terial that will cost him only $50,000, must necessarily 
count on the inspectors of the State, the people who 



THE GOVERNOR 131 

O. K. his bills, and accept his work being willing to 
cheat the Government and accept in the name of the 
community material of less value than it has contracted 
and is paying for. 

Of course, the contractor does not expect to get this 
privilege for nothing. Sometimes he pays the heads of 
the political machines that run the State, and the 
ofificials, sometimes he pays the officials themselves, but 
always there is the ''great divide." 

"Fifty-fifty" has become the popular way of expressing 
the method of division, meaning that the contractor, after 
he has paid or bribed all those necessary for him to get 
the crooked work through, is lucky if he is able to 
keep for himself 50 per cent, of the money that he has 
stolen from the State. 

It is because this matter of the changing of specifica- 
tions has seemed to interest the public little that too 
much praise cannot be given to the work that is being 
done by the non-partisan bodies in various cities that 
have undertaken the matter of educating the public on 
all budget matters and stirring them up to taking an in- 
terest in all public contracts. 

An Enterprising Plumber 

In our preliminary skirmishes during the first two 
months of my administration — and as a matter of fact 
all the graft that has been turned up has only come to 
light 'because of practically light skirmishing for the 
purpose of finding out how to reduce the expenses of the 
State — we came across a splendid instance of the speci- 
fication changing. 

A plumber was given the plumbing contract for the 
Capitol which for one wing only, amounted to more than 
$54,000. He departed from the specifications so radically 
that my experts have estimated that he has made 40 to 
50 per cent, more on the contract than he would have 



122 THE BOSS, OR 

made had he given the State the material that he con- 
tracted to dehver. 

When the State Architect, who not only knew of these 
changes, but admitted that he consented to them, was 
asked what he had to say about it, he declared that he had 
a verbal understanding with the plumber by which the 
State was to receive an allowance — amount not stated — 
because of its acceptance of this inferior material. 

When I compelled the State Architect to resign, we 
discovered that instead of the State getting an allowance 
for the use of inferior material, the contractor had been 
permitted to get an increased sum for the use of the 
inferior materials, and had, indeed, received an increase 
in almost every item in the schedule of his contracts. 

In the face of these revelations is it any wonder that at 
times I am almost puzzled to understand why the men 
who were permitting this chicanery did not follow the 
examples of those medieval residents of Rome who, when 
they felt the need for building material, backed their 
wagons up against the Capitol and just moved away 
what they needed. 



THE GOVERNOR 123 



CHAPTER XV. 

ARTICLE n. 
GRAFT ! GRAFT ! GRAFT ! 

ROAD FUND LOOTERS— PAVED PARADISE OF 
GRAFT— THIEVING CONTRACTORS CON- 
NIVE WITH POLITICIANS — WORKED 
WHILE FARMERS SLEPT— MAIN HIGH- 
WAYS NEGLECTED — USELESS ROADS 
BUILT FOR POLITICAL FAVORITES. 

By Wm. Sulzer. 

With the open and desperate attempt of the agents 
of "invisible government" to seize the roads of New 
York and appropriate the sixty-six milHons of dollars 
that is yet to be spent on them began the war now going 
on in New York State, a war that I promise will not 
be finished until there has been established a primary re- 
form that will enable the people of this State to govern 
themselves. 

''Invisible government" feeds on corruption. It feeds 
corruption to its agents. Its agents corrupt its sub- 
bosses. It can, therefore, easily be imagined that there 
is no department more desirable than the Highways De- 
partment in a great State like the State of New York, 
where the roads lead from the largest city on the con- 
tinent and penetrate forests and high mountains. 

With a padded pay roll that extends from New York 
to the Adirondacks and a theft in specifications that 
feeds contractors from Westchester to Erie, is it any 



124 THE BOSS, OR 

wonder that boss government has made no Httle fight 
against giving up this privilege? 

I do not mean to say that there were no honest con- 
tractors employed on the New York State roads, but as 
a rule they were crowded out of business, for, in the first 
place, they were not wanted by the crooked bosses and 
crooked politicians who dominated the situation-. 

Waste and Theft $6,000,000 

In the second place, the honest contractor could not 
afford to do business against dishonest competition, for, 
from New York to Buffalo, a distance of over four hun- 
dred miles, we have found mile after mile of roads where 
the contractor, having agreed to put in a sub-base of 
six inches, has put in only four inches; where he has 
contracted and been paid for a top surface of three 
inches of one kind of material and has supplied a sur- 
face of two inches, sometimes one inch, and more fre- 
quently than not of such cheap material that his profit 
has been 50 per cent, more than it should be. It is hard 
to estimate the number of dollars that have been stolen 
already, but the waste and theft easily amount to six 
millions of dollars. 

The State will not get this back, but the contractors 
who swore — as they must have done, under the law, to 
get their pay — ^that they had followed the specifications, 
and the State officials who swore that they had investi- 
gated the work and found that the contract had been 
carried out — these men will be brought before a ^'ury and 
every endeavor will be made to punish them as sure as 
I am Governor of the State of New York. 

A Great Howl of Indignation 

I am frequently asked why I summarily removed Su- 
oe.rintendent Reel from the Highways Department. I 



THE GOVERNOR 125 

answer because he was absolutely incompetent; because 
he was a tool and a very poor tool at that. 

I said that when I became Governor I was going to 
drive out of official life every grafter in the State. I 
have been doing that, and I will keep it up as long as I 
am Governor. The grafters are on the run. The honest 
taxpayer is coming into his own. There is a new order 
of things in the Empire State. 

When the ''organization" decided it must have the 
roads of the State of New York to perpetuate itself in 
power it began in numerous ways known only to "organi- 
zations" and "invisible government" to bring pressure to 
bear upon me to appoint a highway commissioner whom 
they could control and utilize to their advantage. 

When I refused to make this appointment there was a 
great howl of indignation from those men who believe 
that the "organization" can do no harm. At that very 
moment, however, my investigators were discovering that 
a favorite contracting firm were the dispensers to the 
State Highways Department of what is known as 
cementitious gravel. This gravel could only be got at 
one point on the Hudson. 

No Different From Other Gravel 

The contractors were forced to carry it hundreds of 
miles, it being supposed to have a cementing quality. 
Examination by my experts shows that this gravel was 
different from no other gravel ; that it did not have the 
property claimed for it; that the prices paid for it were 
absurd and outrageous, and that the methods by which 
this company forced the Highways Department to accept 
its productions should be investigated by the Grand Jury. 

Another example of the way in Which the roads were 
manipulated by boss government, an example that goes 
to show how non-partisan is corruption, is given in the 
partiality shown a Republican boss of one of the Hudson 



126 THE BOSS, OR 

River counties. Whenever the honest independent 
Democrats of that county have endeavored to organize, 
the ''organization" has discouraged them, and has de- 
pended on this Repubhcan boss to give such aid to the 
Tammany county deputy as vv^as necessary. 

As an evidence of the favor in which this Repubhcan 
was held by the Democratic boss, a State road was so 
planned that it was to run directly through his barn, 
necessitating the removal of his barn and the appropria- 
tion of a small amount of his land. An award was made 
to him of over six thousand dollars, although the opinion 
of most people as to the value of the barn was that it 
was not worth more than fourteen hundred dollars ! 

New York has undertaken to build State roads on a 
gigantic scale. Not the Romans themselves planned a 
more thorough or splendid series of highways. .A word 
about the beginning of this planning, and how it came 
about, and how the money set aside for the roads was 
diverted into the hands of corrupt contractors and poli- 
ticians is necessary. 

For the Farmers' Benefit 

With the coming of automobiles into general use there 
was started in 18U8 an agitation for the construction of 
highways along the natural lines leading from New York 
City. This agitation brought about small appropria- 
tions, but the movement had little success in general 
until the various granges took up the movement, attach- 
ing themselves to it on the theory that the high cost of 
living would be greatly reduced and agriculture doubled 
if the farmers should have good roads on which to get 
their products to market. 

This made the project popular, and in 1905 the State 
bonded itself for good roads to the extent of fifty million 
dollars by constitutional amendment. The project was 
interesting, and as roads were mapped out with two great 



THE GOVERNOR 127 

trunk line highways from New York City to the end of 
western New York, with feeders into every part of the 
State, the imagination of the people was aroused. 

Largely through the interest of farmers and small 
towns another fifty million dollars was voted. The 
people who were most enthusiastic in appropriating this 
money were those who were most affected by its misuse, 
for it was the farmers and the small shopkeepers in towns 
and villages who looked for the benefit, and, owing to 
the wastefulness of the politicians and contractors, did 
not, of course, get it. 

In three years from 1906 to 1909 only eleven million 
dollars of the first fifty millions had been appropriated 
or put in contract. The politicians began to understand 
how to manipulate the contracts so as to make money out 
of them. Then began the diverting of roads and the re- 
location of roads so as to increase the value of property 
belonging to bosses, sub-bosses, co-bosses, etc. 

Roads that Lead Nowhere 

Then began probably the most brazen part of the 
process of manipulating the Highways Department by 
laying out roads that began nowhere, and ended 
nowhere ; roads that were run close to some quarry 
owned by some political boss or lieutenant, or would run 
to some roadhouse. The farmers, however, saw the fine 
roads that were laid out on the map and they lived in 
hope. 

The farmers slept while the politicians worked. In a 
way, of course, it was impossible for the State in general 
to know what was being done, for a man in Schoharie or 
Albany county had no way of knowing that the State 
money was being used to build State roads into Adiron- 
dack camps, and the people in the Adirondack camps, of 
course, had no complaint to make. 

A.s the State's money was spent, experience in graft 



128 THE BOSS, OR 

grew and politicians became more scientific in their ap- 
propriation of the people's money, and it was then that 
the Highways Department evolved such donations as it 
gave to the Republican boss when it created the State 
road No. 909. This road was diverted from an old and 
long traveled county highway, which gave a splendid 
bottom, to a road which ran across fields which required 
a sub-base of heavy stone. The unitiated will ask 
"Why?" and they would probably not be thoroughly 
satisfied when told that it is just as important for the 
agents of "invisible government" to get a working 
minority, as it is to control the majority. 

It has found by experience that when the majority 
wishes to put through some particularly obnoxious meas- 
ure without saddling the entire responsibility, it is a good 
thing to have sufficient control of the minority to get 
votes from the opposition and thereby to confuse the 
issue. 

When I became Governor I discovered that an attempt 
was being made to relocate another road, this time send- 
ing it over the mountains, and that coincident with this 
relocation the wife of the Republican boss referred to 
above had purchased from a well-known actor a large 
farm through which the new road would run. This 
would, of course, have necessitated this same Republican 
family making another sacrifice in the interest of the 
State. Regretful as it was to deprive the family of an 
opportunity of showing its patriotism again, I have 
canceled this relocation, and this road will not be built. 

A New Form of Graft 

In 1910 the politicians, now thoroughly masters of the 
subject, conceived a new plan. After many roads had 
been built, some twenty million dollars of the people's 
money having been expended for about eleven million 
dollars' worth of roads, it was decided to have a depart- 



THE GOVERNOR 129 

ment of maintenance and repair. Aside from the fact 
that this department offered great possibilities for mak- 
ing money, it was absolutely necessary because the roads, 
although constructed within a few years, were already 
falling to pieces. 

So this department was established and confidential 
inspectors were appointed, the term ''confidential in- 
spectors" being necessary in order to avoid the rules of 
the Civil Service. These confidential inspectors were all 
politicians of the machine type, and, as a rule, absolutely 
unequipped for the work they were supposed to under- 
take. One confidential inspector had been a county 
judge, another was a lawyer, all were in some way identi- 
fied with their local organizations. 

The method adopted by the confidential inspectors in 
inspecting and repairing the work and passing on it was 
interesting — they made an automobile trip over the road 
when it was finished ! Having appointed confidential 
inspectors until the payroll would stand for no more it 
was decided that there should be some foremen of 
laborers in the Highways Department. The Civil Service 
Department was asked for a list and, of course, as the 
Civil Service Department had no such list the Highways 
Department appointed up to the point of saturation all 
the barbers, liquor dealers and other handy men in 
political caucuses that were needed. 

Contracts were let and repairs made at prices as high 
as eight thousand dollars a mile! A contractor would 
be asked to repair a road with stone that would cost 
as high as $5.75 a yard, and after the contract had been 
awarded to the man who stood in on the graft he would 
be permitted to use what is known as "field" stone, 
picked up in fields alongside of the road, which, when 
crushed and put in place, was not worth more than $2 
a yard ! 

And still the politicians grew more scientific and the 
Hiehways Department got new ideas. Instead of allow- 



130 THE BOSS, OR 

ing the contractors to put the oil on the road, the de- 
partment decided to buy the oil itself and supply it to 
the contractors, to the extent that in 1912 six million 
gallons of oil for repair purposes alone were purchased 
by the State Highways Department ! This oil was 
bought at from eleven to fourteen cents a gallon, while 
the city of New York paid from five to eight cents for 
the same oil! 

A Student of Good Roads 

For weeks before I was inaugurated Governor I had 
been studying this highway problem, for I had heard 
much of the things that had been done and were being 
done. I had long been a student of good roads, and 
had much to do in Congress to improve our national 
system, having perhaps a natural interest in good roads, 
inasmuch as I have traveled some long ones from 
Wrangleland to Patagonia. 

My first official act was to request the resignation of 
the three Civil Service Commissioners and to appoint 
three men on whom I could rely to guard the interests of 
the State not only in the Highways Departments but in 
the Canal and other departments. I caused a commission 
of inquiry to investigate the highways immediately ; had 
the Civil Service Commission abolish all foremen and con- 
fidential inspectors, and held up all contracts awarded, 
both for the construction of new roads and the repair 
of old roads. I then asked the Superintendent of High- 
ways to resign after he had been given oppartunity to 
explain many of the things that I have related. 

I then had the executive auditor, Mr. John A 
Hennessy, make a careful and detailed investigation of 
the roads with expert men and road engineers, so that the 
evidence that we will offer to the grand juries of the 
various counties as to what fraud has been perpetrated 
will not be the evidence of hearsay or guess, but the 



THE GOVERNOR 



131 



RILL SIKES MURPHY— "DON'T I OWN YER?'» 




From the Albany Knickerbocker Press 

SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE? 



132 THE BOSS, OR 

evidence of men of position and scientific attainment. 
Having offered the position of head of the new High- 
ways Department to several honest and competent men, 
I finally succeeded in having Mr. Carlisle's appointment 
confirmed. 

Honest Contractors Get Chance 

That means that hereafter the people of the State of 
New York will get not twenty-seven cents worth of 
actual money invested for every dollar of the people's 
money expended for good roads, as they have hereto- 
fore, but will gQt dollar for dollar; which means that 
not only the people themselves will have better roads, 
but the honest contractors will be able to compete for 
the construction. 

It will also mean that roads constructed under my 
administration will last, and that there will be no repe- 
tition of such scandals as that of the road constructed 
in Warren county, which, finished in 1910, at a cost of 
$56,000, was repaired in 1912 at a cost of $52,000. 

I want no greater monument to the efficiency and 
honesty of my administration than good roads honestly 
constructed. 

When I became Governor I thought I did not have an 
enemy in the State. They tell me now I am one of the 
best hated men in the commonwealth. Of course I am 
hated. Is it any wonder? The honest folk remember, 
however, that every man in the State who hates me 
for doing my duty is an enemy of the State^ and is de- 
nouncing me because I am for the general welfare and 
not for the special interests. If the grafters are against 
me I know the honest people are for me. There is some 
consolation in that conclusion. 



THE GOVERNOR 133 



CHAPTER XVI. 

GRAFT! GRAFT! GRAFT! 

ARTICLE III. 

GRAFT IN THE PRISONS— MILLIONS OF DOL- 
LARS WASTED ON FOOD ALONE— SING 
SING A CHAMBER OF HORRORS— CON- 
VICTS ROBBED OF LIGHT AND AIR— DIS- 
EASE BREEDING CONDITIONS— SPECIAL 
TERRORS FOR WOMEN. 

By Wm. Sulzer. 



It has been said that the prison is one of the necessary- 
accessories of civilization. Investigations running over 
a period of several months have shown to me that the 
prisons of the State of New York have been an accessory 
— but an accessory of graft ! 

Revelations that have come into my possession, not as 
mere hearsay but in the form of affidavits and testimony 
taken, go to show the conditions that have existed in 
New York State, have been — I do not hesitate to say 
it — even worse than those we associate with Libby Prison, 
Pentonville, Newgate and the mediaeval chambers of 
horrors of Venice and the latomies (quarries) associated 
with the name of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse. 

My very fear in discussing the subject is not that 
the horror of it will lead me into exaggerating the terrible 
conditions, but that the desire to minimize the shocking 



134 THE BOSS, OR 

and revolting conditions may lead to too conservative a 
statement. 

Some Cruelties Stopped 

Since my investigators have begun to report on this 
work there has been some amelioration of the conditions. 
No longer are men being driven insane as they were at 
Auburn, and so far as possible there is an end to the 
practice of throwing two men into a cell into which the 
light of the sun has not penetrated for eighty years, as 
was formerly the practice at Sing Sing. 

But we will not be content with the amelioration of 
conditions. It is my purpose to see that officials who 
have committed the most inhuman of crimes shall 
be punished. For what greater inhumanity could 
there be than to take men who are afflicted with the 
disease of crime and through graft and neglect ruin their 
entire lives? 

Rotten Food Substituted 

The prisoners, in a way, are really part of the civilized 
hospital system. We have passed beyond the point at 
which we regard a criminal as anything but a diseased 
person. The State controls such unfortunates just as it 
takes the sick in order to care for them and if possible 
to cure them. 

If we should learn to-day that in our hospitals the 
doctors, nurses and officials were substituting^ rotten and 
unwholesome victuals for the clean and healthy food 
provided by the State, what would be said ? Yet we 
have learned that that is precisely what has been done in 
nearly all of our State prisons that we have investigated. 

Alore than that, we discovered that in Sing Sing the 
sanitary conditions were so bad that a large percentage 
of the men sent to the prison left it the victims of 



THE GOVERNOR 135 

chronic rheumatism, in many cases incapacitated from 
ever again earning their own living. 

A Disease-breeding Atmosphere 

Surely even the Spanish Inquisition seems humane in 
the face of the recital of erstwhile respectable prisoners 
who, sentenced to prison for several years at hard work, 
find themselves located in the same cells with vile char- 
acters afflicted with loathsome diseases. 

The most human of human writers was undoubtedly 
Charles Dickens. Nothing testifies to his great and hu- 
mane mind more than his interest in the prison question. 
He studied prisons inside and out; he never went any- 
where that he did not visit a prison. 

His pictures of Newgate, the King's Prison, Fleet 
Prison, Marshalsea and even our own New York Tombs 
and the Philadelphia prison, in his ''American Notes," 
have always lived in my memory as the finest testimonial 
and the best evidence of his desire to help the down- 
trodden and oppressed. Not even Howard, the pioneer 
of prison reform, has done more to bring about an under- 
standing of the fact that, after all, men convicted of 
crimes are human beings, than did Charles Dickens. 

As Bad as in Dickens's Day 

Wide interest in the study of penology and an interest 
in human methods of treatment have grown apace since 
he wrote, but New York State, apparently, tinder the 
administration of the recent superintendent of prisons, 
has brought back conditions as fearful as any that 
Dickens ever saw. 

I cannot promise that there will be convictions of the 
men who are responsible for these outrages on society— 
for it is society that is eventually aflfected when criminals 
are made more criminal— but I can promise that every 



136 THE BOSS, OR 

effort will be made to put the men who were in charge of 
the prisons at the time — these men who were supposed 
to have "taken care" of the prisoners — into the very 
cells that have been found so vile and loathsome. 

The Beginning of Reform 

Perhaps, however, they will never know the real tor- 
ture that they have inflicted upon others or suffered 
others to endure, for conditions in the worst prisons have 
been changing. A simple example of a change for the 
better is the fact that no longer in Great Meadow, a 
healthy outdoor prison, so to speak, are there two hun- 
dred vacant cells, while down in damp, rheumatic Sing 
Sing, a veritable pest hole, are prisoners doubled up, the 
men of the criminal and depraved class mixing indis- 
criminately with men who may yet become decent and 
valuable citizens. 

I say "decent and valuable citizens" because it is an 
absolute fact that there are men who land in jail and 
yet whose lives up to the commission of that one crime 
were model and whose lives after they had left prison 
have been worthy of emulation. 

In Sing Sing a short time ago was a talented man who 
had committed forgery, probably the first crime he had 
ever committed in his life, and undoubtedly, the fair- 
minded men who have talked to him say, the last crime 
he will commit. This man of unusual refinement and 
education, when he arrived at Sing Sing was put in a 
dark six-by-nine cell with an old thief who was afflicted 
with eleven different diseases. 

This man was asked by Mr. Blake, who has been in- 
vestigating the prisons for me, if the charge made by 
another prisoner was true — that charge being that a 
man who entered Sing Sing fifty per cent, bad left it t 
hundred per cent. bad. 

"A man who enters Sing Sing prison fifty per cent 



THE GOVERNOR 137 

bad," declared this talented prisoner, "leaves it putres- 
cent." 

A Chamber of Horrors 

Another victim in the same prison, a banker, declared 
that investigation would show in due time — he being very 
anxious to conceal his own identity — that New York 
State was maintaining in Sing Sing prison not a place in 
which to take care of criminals and to punish them, but, 
because of the lack of effort of the keepers to better the 
unsanitary conditions, a Chamber of Horrors where men 
were morally, mentally and physically ruined. 

Naturally, the person to whom all this is new is in- 
clined to believe that such conditions could not last long, 
and he will ask, "How is it that there have not been 
revelations before this ?" 

In the first place, there is a general belief, more or 
less well founded, that a prisoner who has served his 
first term exaggerates very much the horror of his term 
in prison and, in view of the stigma that he bears, is not 
a person well accredited in a community. If, on the 
other hand, he has been a prisoner of such importance 
that his statement would still be considered of some 
weight, the chances are ten to one that he has been able 
to purchase favors for himself and to relieve the burden 
of life with purchased luxuries that the prison laws for- 
bid, but which corrupt keepers and deputies are always 
willing to provide. 

Therefore, as part of the system, it has been styled in 
New York State the "Prison Ring." 

Kept Silent by Parole Law 

Less influential prisoners, who are looking for paroles, 
although they know something of the horrors of the 
prison, are not courageous enough, after such experi- 



138 THE BOSS, OR 

ences, to speak out, especially in view of the fact that 
the parole — the purpose of which is to keep a prisoner 
good — acts effectively in keeping him silent. For in- 
stance, say, the prisoner is sentenced for from two to 
four years. If he is released at the end of two years on 
parole he can be brought back at any time when, in the 
opinion of the officers, he is not living a proper life. 
This simply serves to close his mouth as a means of in- 
formation as to the conditions inside and makes him often 
seem to be the ardent defender of the tyrannous manage- 
ment of the prisons. 

In addition to these conditions there is no doubt that 
pardons and commutations have been sold to those men 
who had money or who had friends who were willing to 
buy them free. But of that it might almost be said 
that it was the most humane form of graft that was dis- 
covered. 

How much this graft amounts to in the prisons it is 
not possible to calculate yet, but a moderate estimate 
would seem to point to the fact that in ten years a million 
dollars has been wasted on food alone in the five prisons 
of New York State. 

A Criminal Waste 

At Sing Sing we found that one thousand pounds of 
food was thrown away every day. This food consisted 
of hamburg steak, vegetable soup, boiled potatoes, bread 
and coffee. From one day's breakfast alone the waste 
weighed 625 pounds. Then suspecting that^this super- 
vision of the waste was to continue, some care was exer- 
cised, so that the waste from the following day's break- 
fast was only 200 pounds. This proved that the waste 
was wanton and that only indifferent care could have re- 
duced it at least two-thirds. 

This waste runs all through the prison. Sixteen hun- 
dred pounds of potatoes weigh only 1,100 pounds after 



THE GOVERNOR 139 

they were pared. The keeper was asked why this was 
done, and he declared that he knew nothing about it, 
had never heard of it before, and did not even seem to 
think there was anything criminal or unusual in it. 

Bad Meat Served 

While the very best kind of meat was delivered, ac- 
cording to the bills and receipts^ at the prison, it was a 
fact proved by unquestioned testimony that bad meat was 
served to the prisoners. Who got the good meat and 
who substituted the bad meat is a question we are yet 
to answer. 

Interesting as an example of the way in which Sing 
Sing prison was run is the fact that in one month, while 
16,232 pounds of beef were bought, 1,179 pounds could 
not be accounted for until the warden happened to think 
this must have disappeared as ''shrinkage." Interesting, 
too, is the fact that 469 pounds of beef were served in 
that month to the warden's family alone, while the en- 
tire night force of the prison only got 192 pounds during 
the same time. 

It would seem that in these modern times, when even 
among the most ignorant there is a proper regard for 
the value of light and air, the men in charge of a State 
institution would see that a sufficient amount of these 
two necessities to life be given to the inmates of that 
institution. 

The Blight of Politics 

But no. Enter politics, and it is decreed that the 
amount of light and air that the prisoners receive a week 
is cut down one-seventh. 

To spend the night in a dark, damp and dirty cell of 
Sing Sing is horror enough and can only be appreciated 
by those who have witnessed the conditions. 

On Sunday and holidays, up to a short time ago, it 
was the humane practice to allow the men the greater 



140 THE BOSS, OR 

part of the day in the open air, but this was done away 
with upon the pretense that it deprived the keepers of 
their Sunday hoHday, with the consequence that the 
prisoners now, barring a few hours in the morning, 
spend Sunday and other hoHdays in cells, and come out 
on Monday morning pale and staggering and unfit for 
work. 

"System" Held Responsible 

Intelligent citizens who have never seen at close range 
a corrupt political oligarchy working will ask how can 
these things be; how can men, granted that they are as 
inhuman as the conditions suggest, be so apparently in- 
different to the wrath of the community which they must 
realize will come with the discovery of their turpitude. 
The answer is in the system. If the head of the prison 
system is known to be indifferent to what is going on, 
Dr is himself grafting, it is natural that the men appointed 
by him, even if they are his own selection, and are not 
those of the political boss, will be indifferent or grafters 
also. 

With each step downward the indifference and graft- 
ing, while it may not be any greater than it is at the top, 
becomes harder on the prisoners, for it comes nearer to 
them. 

The man at the top who is making dishonest money in 
large sums through his contracts will probably be kind 
to the prisoners when he sees them or happens to think 
of them. The man under him will have no desire to treat 
them unkindly so long as he gets his share of the graft in 
the particular line of thievery that he has chosen as his 
own field. By the time the stealing gets down to the man 
who is directly over the prisoners there is comparatively 
little left for that individual, and he makes up for his 
shortage by grafting in time and treatment — in other 
words, his attention is concentrated not so much on doing 



THE GOVERNOR 141 

his duty as on avoiding it. The State suffers, and God 
help the poor prisoners that come under him. 

A Concrete Example 

Here is a concrete example of how the system works : 
In Auburn prison we discovered that the State had been 
supporting a number of fine horses and vehicles ^for the 
pleasure of the warden, a thoroughly useless extrava- 
gance and an impertinent one if looked at in the right 
way. In this same prison we found the worst forms of 
brutality, waste and general incompetency. Twenty- 
eight prisoners have become insane during the past twelve 
months. The testimony of trustworthy witnesses in- 
dicates that cruel punishment deprived some of these 
prisoners of their reason. We found that not only was 
the prison doctor careless and unfeeling, but that he had 
repeatedly refused to attend women in confinement, there 
being women as well as men in this prison. 

Probaoly the most subtly horrible thing in connection 
with these prison discoveries was that of leaving the 
women prisoners who were about to be confined to the 
mercies of a midwife who was in prison for complicity 
in a brutal murder. 

Tells of Terrors for Women 

"Although the female prisoners are bad women," said 
my investigator, George W. Blake, "no man with a hu- 
mane feeling or imagination can fail to realize the terror 
of a woman lying in childbed and being attended in the 
dim watches of the night by a murderess." 

With other chapters in this disgraceful story of the 
criminal neglect of these unfortunate wards of society so 
horrible that they will never be written, I can only say 
that as rapidly as conditions permit they are being 
remedied. In the time when there were two hundred and 



142 THE BOSS, OR 

twenty-three capital offenses in England, Judge Heath 
said that there was no hope of saving a felon in this 
life, and that the sooner he was hanged and sent into the 
next world the sooner his problem was solved. 

That day has passed, and even if we do not put all 
of the humanitarian ideas into active practice, we are 
very indignant when we find that some one else has 
violated them. But not until our prisons, and our en- 
tire State government, for that matter, are beyond the 
greedy clutch of the political boss will it be possible to 
say that our protestations of progress are anything but 
a mockery. 



THE GOVERNOR 143 



CHAPTER XVn. 

ARTICLE IV. 

GRAFT ! GRAFT ! GRAFT ! 

GRAFT IN THE LEGISLATURE EXPOSED— IN- 
SIDE DETAILS OF THE CASE OF SENATOR 
STILWELL— DAY OF THE BIG BOSS PASS- 
ING—CROOKED WORK AMONG LAW- 
MAKERS NEARLY ALL DONE IN COMMIT- 
TEES—LEGISLATION SOLD. 

By Wm. Sulzer. 

All over this country there are thousands of young 
men who are anxious to go into the Legislature of their 
various States. They are actuated by patriotic motives 
and praiseworthy ambition. There is, indeed, no finer 
ambition than that of the young man who seeks in an 
honorable way to participate in the making of the laws 
of his State. There was a time when all of these thou- 
sands of young men could have achieved their ambition 
only by sacrificing part of the patriotic impulse — by sac- 
rificing their own character and appealing to the political 
boss to make them legislators, knowing that in turn they 
could only legislate as was agreeable to the boss. 

That day is passing, and with it is passing the crooked 
legislator ; with it is passing the legislator who is respon- 
sive to the will of the boss and not to the will of the 
people. With it is passing the legislator who thinks that 
he has answered the great throbbing interest that the 
people are taking in political questions when he mock- 



144 THE BOSS, OR 

ingly pronounces the word "people" as if it were spelled 
p-e-e-p-u-1. 

A Lesson and a Warning 

Perhaps on this one point I am unduly sensitive, inas- 
much as during my eighteen years' fight in Congress for 
such measures as the direct election of United States 
Senators by the people, and the establishment of a De- 
partment of Labor, the most biting, smashing and de- 
molishing criticism that the opponents of these and other 
popular measures could make was to pronounce ''peo- 
ple" "peepul!" 

The case of Stilwell in the State of New York, com- 
ing so soon after the ejection of another Senator, Jotham 
P. Allds, is one of the most interesting signs of progress 
that we can point out. It is at once a lesson and a warn- 
ing to the crooked legislators throughout the country, 
and is more; it is a mountain of encouragement to the 
people who are fighting the battle of honest politics in 
every village of this Nation. 

It is with some reluctance that I have agreed to talk 
about the case of Stilwell and to tell for the first time the 
real facts as to how this legislator, who was one of the 
bitterest opponents of our bill for direct nominations, 
came to pass out of the Legislature where he represented 
an order of things that is happily passing away, despite 
the apparent strength of the party bosses at the present 
time. Their strength, however, is only apparent — it is 
not real. 

Given a Chance to Resign 

It is necessary to recall and to emphasize the fact 
that only a few months ago Stilwell was an in- 
fluential member of the New York State Senate and was 
chairman of one of its most important committees, the 



THE GOVERNOR 145 

Committee on Codes. To-day he Is a convicted felon, . 
sentenced to from four to eight years in State prison for 
having soHcited a bribe. 

I must recall here what is not generally known, that 
the moment I first knew of the charges against Stilwell 
I sent for him saying, "If I were you I would go up- 
stairs and resign." 

I must also recall here that when the charges were 
made against him to the State Senate and were being 
investigated by the Judiciary Committee, Senator after 
Senator pleaded for him on the ground that nothing 
was proven against him. I must recall here that when 
the Senate had exonerated him by a vote of 28 to 21 — 
due largely to the orders of the political bosses — I was 
urged by his friends not to take any further action in 
the mattei', although I insisted that it was my duty 
as Governor of the State of New York, knowing as I 
did that the man had been guilty of criminal conduct, 
to see that he was punished ; and on that belief and on 
that knowledge I presented to the District Attorney of 
the county of New York such information as I had 
in my possession and asked him to bring the matter 
before the Grand Jury. 

Found No Easy Task. 

When I became Governor I declared I would do all 
in my power to give the people honest government, and 
drive out every grafter in the State. It is no easy task. 
In my efforts to do right I am having all the trouble any 
man wants. Every boss in the State is throwing mud 
at me. Every crook is denouncing me. But I am going 
ahead with the fight for better things in our public life. 

I restate these facts in order that the public may ap- 
preciate the great difficulties that will always be encoun- 
tered in trying to prosecute criminals of the highest class. 
If a poor woman steals from a push-cart there do not 



146 THE BOSS, OR 

spring up on all sides people interested in clogging the 
wheels of justice and in protecting her. She is found 
guilty immediately, though perhaps charity, may mitigate 
her punishment somewhat. If some poor, miserable, 
half -starved lawyer does a wrong thing, the road between 
the deed and the punishment is a speedy and certain one, 
but when a State Senator, a man charged with almost 
sacred duties, sworn to the highest obligations, commits 
a crime, on all sides he will find protectors and de- 
fenders ! 

I emphasize this latter phase of the situation because 
I wish to particularly inspire those thousands of young 
men throughout the country who would be legislators 
with the thought that honesty and courage are more 
essential in public life than any two other qualities of 
which I know. I would stir their blood by a plain 
recital of the facts, that from a mild ambition to enter 
public life, they should become crusaders for good, 
honest, decent government. 

Tells of Kendall's Complaint 

In New York City there are two bank note companies, 
the president of one of these bank note companies 
being a man by the name of George H. Kendall, whom 
I have found to be an honorable man. He came 
to me complaining that he suffered from a monopoly ex- 
ercised by the other bank note company and seeking re- 
lief. He asked if a bill could not be introduced in the 
Legislature that would prohibit the monopoly that he 
said existed. Such a bill would come as an ..amendment 
to the civil code of the State of New York, and I there- 
fore advised him to go to Senator Stilwell about the 
matter. 

I did not hear of it again until I received a wire from 
Mr. Kendall in which he charged that Senator Stilwell 



THE GOVERNOR 147 

had threatened to hold the bill in his committee unless 
he was paid a sum of money. 

Of course I was shocked. I had known Stilwell for 
several years and, though like others I had heard many 
things about him that were not particularly to his credit, 
I had never observed anything that would indicate that 
he was dishonest. When I found out that Stilwell was 
the representative of political corruption, the real facts 
came as a shock, strangely out of keeping with what the 
public thinks it knows about a man, who is suddenly re- 
vealed as the agent of the interests, as the assiduous and 
willing servant of some financial giant. 

However, I acted promptly. I wired Mr. Kendall to 
come to Albany at once. He did; and then told me the 
story of his experience with Stilwell, a story of as brazen 
an attempt to steal as I had ever heard. 

Legislation Bought and Sold 

Every detail of that story has since been borne out 
despite the endeavors of poHtical bosses, crafty lawyers 
and the accomplices of Stilwell to discredit Mr. Kendall. 
It is a story that is interesting not only because it re- 
sulted in the successful prosecution of a State Senator, 
but because it shows how legislation is bought and sold 
by men who enter the Legislature for their own personal 
gain. 

In a way Stilwell's method of trying to sell legislation 
was old-fashioned. In the days of boodle lobbyists, the 
legislatoi's were bought and sold by the large corporations 
through their own agents, generally located in the very 
halls of the Legislature. In later days corrupt corpora- 
tions, improving their methods always, encouraged the 
development of the boss because in that way there was 
less fear of discovery and disclosure. In still later times 
instead of corrupt corporations dealing directly with the 
boss, the boss has a discredited agent, a man whose word, 



148 THE BOSS, OR ^ 

if he should prove treacherous, would never be believed, 
and through this discredited and corrupt agent the deals 
are made by which legislators are bought and sold. 

"Did Legislators Get Any of It?" 

''Did the legislators get any of it," is a frequent ques- 
tion, "or does the boss hold all of it?" It is not an easy 
question to answer. In Stilwell's case he was undoubt- 
edly out "on his own hook." He used the fact that I had 
sent Mr. Kendall to him as an evidence of his importance 
and his power. His very first act in connection with the 
bill was graft, inasmuch as he took Mr. Kendall in tow 
and told him it would cost him $250 to have the bill 
drafted, a bit of petty grafting in itself. Shortly after 
the bill was drafted Stilwell had Kendall come to his 
office and there told him that it would cost $500 for each 
of the four code committeemen in order for him to get 
the bill out of the committee. Kendall, who had had 
some experience in legislation, immediately protested 
that this would mean that the bill would get out of the 
Senate commitee, whereas there was still the Assembly 
committee to think of. Stilwell said he would look up 
the Assembly committee, and that the next day he would 
let Kendall know how much it would cost to get the 
bin out of that committee. It was there he fell, for, 
strange as it may seem that a man as crafty as Stilwell 
should have been so foolish, for he actually wired to 
Kendall "Fifteen is the right number," meaning that 
$1,500 would have to be paid in addition to the $2,000 
that he had already demanded for the Senate committee. 

Clerk Forced to Resign 

Mr. Kendall had accumulated undoubtedly strong evi- 
dence and he had brought most of it in documentary 
form with him to Albany. I listened to his story in 



THE GOVERNOR 149 

amazement. I heard also to my surprise that several 
days before he had taken the matter to Senator Wagner, 
and that Senator Wagner, the Democratic leader, had 
forced the clerk whom Stilwell had used in the bill draft- 
ing room to resign, but that otherwise nothing had been 
done. 

I immediately sent upstairs for Stilwell to come down 
— the legislative halls being on the third floor of the 
Capitol, whereas the Executive Chamber is on the sec- 
ond floor. The moment Stilwell entered the room and 
saw me talking to Mr. Kendall the expression on his 
face was sufficient to have convicted him of the charge. 
He braced himself, however, and walked toward my 
desk with an ugly expression on his face but ill-conceal- 
ing his guilt. 

'^Senator," I said, '^ou know Mr. Kendall?" 

*T do," he replied. 

''Then," I said, "you probably know what Mr. Kendall 
has told me, and if what he says is true, you had better 
go up stairs and hand in your resignation." 

*T can explain," he said, "the matter he complains of 
to my satisfaction." 

"Disgrace to the State" 

"You may be able to explain it to your own satisfac- 
tion," I said, "but you cannot explain it to my satisfac- 
tion. You are a disgrace to the State." 

I immediately told Mr. Kendall to tell the entire matter 
to the press, some of Stilwell's friends protesting that 
the matter should be treated quietly, as it would "hurt 
the party." One particular Senator who sometimes poses 
as a reformer pretested to me that I was splitting the 
party in two. 

"That is true," I replied,, "but I shall have all the 
grafters on one side, and all the honest men on the other. 



150 THE BOSS, OR 

The so-called reformers who like to be on both sides will 
have to declare themselves." 

As the result of the exposure Stilwell was forced by 
the advice of his friends to ask for an investigation, in 
which he said that as a matter of justice he wished to 
be either 'Vindicated" or "branded." 

What Stilwell counted on and apparently counted on 
successfully was, no matter how guilty he might be, he 
was sure that the bosses would aid him, and that hence 
enough men in the Senate would stand by him to let him 
escape. 

Blow Struck at Prestige 

In justice to the members of the Judiciary Committee 
who heard the charges against him it must be pointed 
out that the majority of those members, when it came 
to voting as to his guilt or innocence, voted that he was 
guilty. But possibly no greater blow at the prestige of 
a legislative body has ever been struck than that admin- 
istered by the New York State Senate to its own in- 
fluence and character when it voted, by a vote of 28 to 
21, that Stilwell was not guilty. A few weeks later the 
'Vindicated" Senator was indicted by the Grand Jury of 
New York and three weeks later he was sentenced to 
prison. 

His friends tried to save him. The political bosses 
did all they could for him, but their eflforts in the last 
analysis did not save Stilwell. His conviction has done 
much to purify the political atmosphere of the State of 
New York. 

In the course of the disclosures in connection with the 
Stilwell case there came to light a splendid example of 
the way the invisible government has superseded the 
representative government. And incidentally this little 
cross-section of the methods by which the bosses make 
a mockery of popular election ought to be used in every 



THE GOVERNOR 



151 




152 THE BOSS, OR 

State in the Union to help in the much needed reform 
of "committee rule." 

His Faith Pinned to ''System" 

Stilwell, as I have said, was chairman of the Senate 
Committee on Codes, a most important committee, as 
even the layman will appreciate, from the fact that all 
of the legislation affecting the New York Stock Exchange 
was referred to it. When he was dealing with Kendall 
he used as his excuses for demanding money the alleged 
fact that the other members of the committee would not 
report the bill out of the committee unless they were 
bribed. 

The fact is, and the unfortunate part of this condition 
is that it is also true of other and even more important 
committees, that Stilwell when he decided to pass the 
bill out of the committee did not even go through the 
form of asking his fellow committeemen's consent. 

I do not accuse the other Senators who were on Stil- 
well's committee of being criminally complacent, because 
many of them afterward voted to expel him, but there is 
no doubt that he counted on the system, by which the 
chairman of a committee is allowed too much power, 
to enable him to cloak up his movements. 

The crooked work in Legislatures is all, or nearly all, 
done in committees. People who take an intelligent in- 
terest in public affairs think that they have made a great 
step when they have the public watching the legislature. 
They have, but a greater step will have been made when 
they have the public keeping the spotlight ofi legislative 
committees and particularly the chairman. 

For immediately behind the chairman of the committee 
will be found the Big Boss. 



THE GOVERNOR 153 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

GRAFT! GRAFT! GRAFT! 

ARTICLE V. 

WAR WITH MURPHY— DIRECT NOMINATIONS 
WOULD KILL B O S S I S M— MURPHY'S 
THREAT 'T'LL HAVE YOU OUT IN SIX 
WEEKS"— HOW TAMMANY AIMED TO AC- 
COMPLISH GOVERNOR'S RUIN, UNLESS 
HE WOULD BE A MERE FIGUREHEAD. 

By Wm. Sulzer. 

During the last campaign they tell me I spoke to more 
people than any other candidate for office in all the his- 
tory of the State. I told the people simple truths from 
the bottom of my heart. Many doubted the sincerity of 
my campaign speeches, but there was one man who never 
doubted the sincerity of those speeches, and that was the 
man who is now the Governor of the State. 

It is all very simple to me, because I am a simple man. 
I am just the same to-day as I was in the Legislature a 
quarter of a century ago. I am just the same to-day as 
I was in Congress. I haven't changed. I don't intend 
to change. Others have changed, and if the fight is on it 
is their fault, and not mine. 

I am not working for the bosses. I am working for 
the people. I want to do something for my fellow man. 
I know, in the last analysis, that when the future his- 



154 THE BOSS, OR 

torian pens the records of my administration I will be 
judged by what I have accomplished. 

I am trying to do things. Not for myself, but to do 
things for all the people. Do you think it is easy? If 
you only knew how I am threatened; if you only knew 
the obstacles that are put in my way; if you only knew 
how discouraging it is at times, every honest citizen in 
the State would be with me in the fight for the right. 

Unprepared for the Struggle 

When I took office no one was so little prepared for 
the struggle that was to come as I was, for I assumed 
that the right of the Governor to act as his conscience 
dictated was conceded everywhere, even by the least in- 
telligent of bosses. I was then, as I am now, a Demo- 
crat, and I had fought with more or less conspicuous- 
ness in the State Assembly, and in Congress for Demo- 
cratic and patriotic measures until I assumed that any 
one who knew anything at all about politics knew that I 
had my own views of duty, and that I had never run 
away or never ''trimmed." Surely there was nothing 
in my long fight in Congress for such measures as the 
income tax, and the direct election of United States 
Senators, to indicate that I was of the subservient type 
of politician. 

And, incidentally, I had had some experience with 
bosses. I had fought with Kelly, the successor to Tweed, 
and I had won. I had differed with Croker and I had 
won. I had defied Murphy himself when orders were 
sent to Washington for me to vote for Cannon. But ap- 
parently he had forgotten that when, a few days after 
I was inaugurated in office, the great boss-run machine 
started to grind out offices for Murphy and orders for 
me. 



THE GOVERNOR 155 

A Mere Figurehead 

Apparently all that I was suffered to do was to supply 
the oil, start the clock, say "Yes, sir," in the morning 
and "Yes, sir," at night. There was no objection to my 
making speeches — the bosses' minions explained to one 
another that this was a habit of mine — annoying in some 
instances, but on the whole one to be tolerated as not 
really very harmful. 

Then slowly came the realization that I was in earnest, 
that I really meant to carry out the party pledges, and 
that I really meant to hunt down and prosecute the graft- 
ers. And with that realization came blind rage, and 
finally a determination not only to annoy and harass me 
but to absolutely ruin me if possible. And now it is an 
open battle with the bosses. 

United Against Reform 

But I am fully determined that no Tammany attack on 
me shall interfere in the slightest with the discharge of 
my duty to the people who elected me. I realize that 
Murphy is making war on me. 

All winter I appealed to the members of the Legisla- 
ture to carry out the promises of the Syracuse platform. 
I wanted them to keep faith with the voters. I wanted 
them to help me write on the statute books what the 
Democratic party promised — a Direct Primary law State- 
wide in its scope. They refused to do it. 

Then I sent a special message to the Legislature, tell- 
ing the members exactly what we ought to do about it. 
They answered that special message by sending me an 
abortive bill known as the Blauvelt bill, to make matters 
worse instead of better, I vetoed it in language that 
could not be misunderstood. I then sent them a real 
Direct Primary bill. They beat it. How did they beat it ? 

First, the Democrats caucused against it. Then the 



156 THE BOSS, OR 

Republicans caucused against it. The two great political 
parties caucused to defeat this bill of the people. I am 
a pretty good parliamentarian. I have studied parlia- 
mentary law for a quarter of a century. I have searched 
through precedents, and in all the history of parlia- 
mentary government this was the only time when two 
political parties caucused to beat the same bill. 

Do you suppose the members of the Legislature beat 
our Direct Primaries bill of their own free will and 
accord? Certainly not. The Democratic members got 
their orders from Murphy over the telephone in Del- 
monico's, and the Republicans got their orders from Mr. 
Barnes up here in Albany. These orders beat the bill. 

What a spectacle of representative government? What 
an indictment of free institutions ! What shall we say 
when a boss in one part of the State and a boss in an- 
other part of the State compel the members of the Legis- 
lature to caucus to beat a bill these very members were 
pledged to enact ? There was never anything like it in 
all the history of our State, and I trust after another 
election there will never be anything like it again. 

I am not going to let Murphy divert public attention 
from the real issue. That issue is direct nominations, 
the one weapon which will enable the people to dispose 
of the bosses forever. W^ith direct nominations the fight 
will be easy. My fight is the pioneer fight, the hard fight, 
the fight to spike the enemies' guns so that the people can 
carry their breastworks. And I am in it to win. 

I know how powerful they are and how resourceful 
they are. The manner and method of their attacks on 
me is a matter of public knowledge. 

Determined to be Governor 

How did it all come about? Simply because I was 



THE GOVERNOR 157 

determined that I would be the Governor of this State, 
and keep the capital at Albany and not at Delmonico's 

That is where the government of this State proceeded 
from for the two years prior to the time the people put 
me in office— Delmonico's, with Murphy sitting there sur- 
rounded by his henchmen and sending men big enough to 
know better, as messengers on his errands. 

Here are some of the things I was first asked, then 
begged and finally ordered to do by the boss, and by the 
boss I mean Charles F. Murphy, the present leader of 
Tammany Hall, and the arrogant ruler of little satraps 
like Packey McCabe in Albany. 

First, I was told to let direct nominations alone, ex- 
cept 'that I was to sign the abortive Blauvelt bill. ^ly 
answer was to write a veto to the Blauvelt bill, and to 
draw, and cause to be introduced, a direct primary meas- 
ure that was a bill and not a travesty on a bill. 

Then I was asked to appoint 'The" McManus, the 
Murphy leader of a Alurphy West Side district. Labor 
Commissioner. Murphy was insistent on that, making 
demand after demand. My answer was to appoint Mr. 
Lynch, w^hen Mike Walsh, another Murphy leader 
"framed" the Legislature so that the nomination of John 
Mitchell, the best fitted man for the position possible to 
imagine, had been rejected by Murphy's Senate. 

Then followed a demand for the nomination of George 
Palmer, the organization State chairman, and the letter- 
copying Packey McCabe as Public Service Commission- 
ers, positions which ought to be kept absolutely free from 
politics of any kind. 

My answer was to appoint two qualified men for these 
positions. The emissaries of the boss first came to me 
with intimations of Murphy's ideas, the kind of thing 
that has influenced the actions of public officials. When 
I ignored these intimations they changed their tactics and 
ised soft soap. 



158 THE BOSS, OR 

A Tempting Bait 

Murphy seemed to think that WilHam Sulzer was easily 
won over by specious promises. I was told that the 
organization controlled absolutely the party in the State, 
and that it could control the organizations in many other 
States in the next three years. All I had to do, accord- 
ing to these promisers, was to sit tight, do what the boss 
told me like a nice Governor and be given the nomination 
for the Presidency of the United States, a great office 
and one worthy of any man's ambition. 

My answer to that was that I have reached the climax 
of my political career, and that my only desire was to 
serve the people for two years, put the State Government 
on an honest, efficient and economical basis, and retire at 
the end of my term to a little farm where I can spend the 
rest of my days and be the friend of man. 

Discovering that promises worked no more on me than 
hints, they suddenly became aggressive. They tried bull- 
dozing and bludgeoning, which they kept up till it proved 
as futile as any of their other attempts on my honor. 

On April 13 I met Mr. Murphy for the last time in 
New York. I had been previously prepared by his mes- 
sengers for threats, and I was not surprised when they 
came, couched in the only language Murphy knows how 
to speak. 

After I had definitely refused to do any of the things 
he wanted me to do he said : 'Tn six weeks I will have 
you out of office." Well, the six weeks are more than 
passed, and I am still the fighting Governor of New York. 

I know that this is no little fight. I know that they 
will stop at nothing, and that they have great power. But 
I also know something about the power of an honest 
man determined to do right. 

What influenced the bosses above all things to 
destroy me was that I insisted on direct nomina- 
tions, and in prosecuting the grafters. It never occurred 



THE GOVERNOR 159 

to me that when I proposed to fulfill the promise 
made in the Democratic State platform, in the Progres- 
sive State platform and in the Republican State platform, 
I would encounter such a bitter and stubborn resistance 
as was presented. Though I knew the bosses were op- 
posed to direct nominations I believed that when the sen- 
timent of the people on this question was manifested the 
bosses would yield. Intelligent bosses in some cases have 
surrendered to public sentiment in such overwhelming 
force, as it exists in favor of popular primaries in New 
York. In Pennsylvania Boss Penrose favored the very 
bill which in New York Bosses Murphy and Barnes are 
still fighting tooth and nail. Mr. Penrose has to go be- 
fore the people for re-election to the United States 
Senate. He made up his mind that he would have a 
better chance of re-election if he got his nomination from 
the Republicans of the State directly, in a primary than if 
he went to the voters on election day with the nomination 
of a State convention. So the other day Governor Tener 
signed the bill, copied from the measure known as the 
Sulzer bill, and thus Pennsylvania became the fortieth 
State out of forty-eight to adopt direct-nominations. 



A Gratifying Response 



I made a tour of the State after the bosses had beaten 
direct nominations in the regular session of the Legisla- 
ture to appeal to the people for their active influence on 
legislators who had defaulted on their promise of State- 
wide direct nominations. The response to my appeal was 
beyond all I had expected. Although amateurs in politics 
planned the meetings, and they were often held in hall? 
not adapted to such a purpose, there were large crowds 
everywhere, in many cases too big for all to gain en- 
trance. This was a revelation to me. A mid-summer 



160 THE BOSS, OR 

political campaign which aroused nearly as much interest 
as in a Presidential year, in October, proved beyond a 
doubt that the people would back me up overwhelmingly. 

That trip heartened me immensely, but at the same 
time it fanned to white heat the hatred of the bosses, and 
it increased the venom of the agents of ''invisible gov- 
ernment." 

It was while I was telling the people the truth about 
direct nominations that the scavengers of Fourteenth 
Street began to dig into the swill barrels for filth to throw 
at me. All the while on the stump I had shunned per- 
sonalities. 

I did not go into the private lives of the bosses for 
scurrilous matter, though I imagine if any one wanted to 
employ private detectives on such foul business as that he 
could get enough to make the whole State hold its nose. 
I wanted to fight fair, to hit all my blows above the belt, 
and stick to the issue in a dignified way. But the bosses 
could not endure a stand-up fight. It had been the pride, 
in the past of Tammany that it chose bosses who, what- 
ever else they might be would not hit below the belt, and 
would not squeal when they were hard hit. The State 
soon beheld the spectacle of the boss wincing under the 
lash of public rebuke, and, striking with weapons which 
decent men scorn to use. 

The more it was proved the people were behind me 
for direct nominations the more the bosses wanted to 
destroy me. In every possible way they publicly confessed 
that they did not dare to face the very voters for whom 
they pretended to act. In several instances members of 
the Legislature who sought to reply to me at public meet- 
ings were. actually hooted out of the hall, and I could not 
obtain a hearing for them. The voters saw there was 
only one side to the argument — their side. They asked 
hostile legislators how they were going to vote at the 
extra session, and if they didn't say "for the Sulzer bill" 



THE GOVERNOR 161 

the meetings broke up in disorder and the poor legislators 
could not defend themselves. - 

Resort to Forgery 

The public would be amazed if they knew to what 
lengths the bosses went in their determination to destroy 
the Governor who was trying to take away from them the 
power to nominate candidates and give it over to the 
people. 

One instance will give some idea of the desperation 
of the bosses. A Brooklyn member who voted against 
direct nominations went back home after the regular 
session and sent out return postal cards to twenty-five 
hundred voters of his district, asking how they stood. He 
reported that nearly three-quarters of the answers were 
against the Sulzer bill. A Brooklyn newspaper challeng- 
ing the returns, the assemblyman exhibited them. The 
newspaper reported that seventeen hundred of the cards 
recording voters against direct nominations had been 
written by the same hand. Upon this discovery that he 
had been hookwinked, the legislator announced that in 
the extra session he would vote for the Sulzer bill. 

On the day the bill came up another member received 
a telegram from his leader telling him to vote "No." 
Orders were orders to him. He voted ''No." When 
he got back the leader berated him for voting wrong. 
"But your telegram?" gasped the bewildered member. 
*T sent no telegram," the leader declared. 

Forgery may have played a larger part in the defeat of 
direct nominations, at the extra session, than we know. 

I told the people when the direct nominations bill was 
beaten that the fight had only just begun. That is an- 
other promise I shall keep if the people's enemies do not 
remove me when they find they cannot scare me off 
with their stinkpots. We shall go into every As- 
sembly district this autumn to oppose, without regard to 



162 THE BOSS, OR 

politics, every member who refuses to bind himself in 
black and white to genuine direct nominations. We are 
organizing all over the State, and beyond any doubt in 
my mind when we get through the Assembly will be for 
direct nominations by a majority so large that the State 
Senate must take heed. 



THE GOVERNOR 163 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MURPHY'S WAR ON GOV. SULZER IN LIGHT 
OF ACTUAL DEVELOPMENTS 

MURPHY'S DECISION TO UNDERMINE GOV- 
ERNOR CAME IMMEDIATELY AFTER SUL- 
ZER WAS SWORN IN. 

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF EVENTS TO IM- 
PEACHMENT CLIMAX REVEALS SYSTEM- 
ATIC PLAN TO DESTROY GOVERNOR. 

To a looker-on about this time the best way 
to tell why a reaction has set in against the bosses all 
over the state is to make a cold analysis of the acts of 
Sulzer and Murphy since the beginning from a simple 
inventory of those acts. 

There is a popular belief that the rupture between the 
Boss and the Governor began on March 18, when, after 
a stormy interview at the home of Charles F. Murphy, 
the governor of New York took his leave with the Boss's 
threat to destroy him ringing in his ears. 

The Initial Act 

That is only a superstition. Murphy's resolve was 
formed long before that. It was on the day after Sulzer 
had taken the oath of ofifice. The governor sat in the 
corner of the big room, and quietly remarked that he was 
the State Democratic leader, and that any one who chal- 
lenged his leadership could come out in the open and 
fight. 

Thousands of New Yorkers thought that was a Sulzer 



164 . THE BOSS, OR 

play to the gallery. Among those who did not think so 
was Charles F. Murphy. But the Boss did not accept 
the challenge to come out in the open. That is not the 
way Tammany chieftains fight their battles. 

Plans to Undermine Him 

Murphy's vanity had been hurt, and his lust for power 
was in danger of being no longer gratified. But he 
choked down his emotions and prepared to undermine 
Sulzer. When Justice McCall was appointed public serv- 
ice commissioner and John H. Delaney was chosen com- 
missioner of efficiency and economy the governor had 
been so deceived by Boss Alurphy's attitude that he 
thought his leadership had not been challenged. For 
while McCall and Delaney pretended early and late to 
be Sulzer's friends, Murphy knew he could count on 
them when it came to open war. 

Sulzer, with "innocent rusticity," went on from McCall 
and Delaney to straightout Sulzer appointments and still 
Murphy did not draw the long knife. He just held up 
sure Sulzer appointments. 

Everything that the Boss let Sulzer get was to be a 
help to the governor's undoing. The interests that did 
not want the Labor department reorganized would fall 
in line against Sulzer for what he did about that busi- 
ness, and Murphy 'would protect them by beating John 
Mitchell or any other labor representative for commis- 
sioner. 

Sulzer Makes Foes 

And so the very things that Sulzer was doing for the 
public good would make him a host of powerful enemies. 
From Wall Street there would be hostility because he 
enacted legislation against the Stock Exchange. The 
potent ring of highways and canal contractors, whose 



THE GOVERNOR 165 

crimes were on the way to exposure, would come out 
thirsting for his blood. Tammany itself, with its 
vast ramifications throughout the state, would bring all 
its resources savagely to the attack. 

The Boss let Sulzer dream until the time came. It is 
hard to believe that the demands made on the governor 
by Murphy at their farewell midnight meeting- were put 
forth with the slightest thought that the enemy would 
surrender. These impossible demands were deliberately 
made by the Boss because the time had come to strike, 
and the executioner was ready. 

The Final Meeting 

These were some of the things Murphy insisted on: 
The appointment of "Mike" Mulqueen to a Supreme 
Court judgeship, "The" McManus to be labor commis- 
sioner, a quack doctor for health commissioner, Ken- 
nedy for superintendent of prisons (the warden who 
was indicted for the Sing Sing business), and Palmer 
and McCabe for public service commissioners. The 
withdrawal of Sulzer's demand for the expulsion of Stil- 
well from the Senate. Abandonment of direct nomina- 
tions. 

And he carefully insulted the Governor by questioning 
that he, Sulzer, had lived on $1,500 a year when he was 
a member of the Assembly. This was when Murphy 
was justifying Stilwell with the generous excuse that the 
senator, like some others, could not live at Albany on 
his salary from the State and was entitled to make a 
little money "on the side." 

After this final break the machine went to work to 
grind out the fate of Sulzer. He had defied the organiza- 
tion by daring to make his own appointments. "I ought 
to have known better than to nominate you," said Mur- 
phy, ruefully, "without getting promises in the presence 
of witnesses." 



166 THE BOSS, OR 

"You could not have made me give you promises,'' 
hotly retorted Sulzer. **You say you will destroy me. 
You cannot destroy me. I can destroy myself, as Dix 
did, by doing what you want me to do." 

Then came the famous conference at Delmonico's, 
where ways and means were canvassed to take the polit- 
ical life of the governor who would not give up his office 
to Murphy and the organization. 

"They made up their minds," the governor told a 
friend, "that I was the most dangerous man who had 
ever stepped in the path of predatory wealth and prosti- 
tuted statesmanship. They had to 'get me.' They 
wanted to get me 'with the goods,' but they were sworn 
to 'get me' at all hazards." 

When the framed-up Vermont perjury charges turned 
out to be based on forgery they did not stop going after 
Sulzer. The bosses would not give up. 

Sulzer knew these charges were going to be sprung 
when he said he would face them. He knew all about 
the campaign fund business. That did not hinder him 
from defying Murphy. "You do your worst," he said. 
"I'll go on doing my best." 

Naturally Murphy could not halt in his enterprise 
once he had started. Too much had been risked. Hen- 
nessy was burrowing away on the highways, the canals 
and the other hidden plunder. If Sulzer were not 
smashed men would go to jail ; and maybe in the 
tracing of the loot the trail would run very high up. 
So if Murphy could hold the votes in the Legislature, 
Sulzer had to be destroyed. 

Murphy had them. Powerful engines .. were set to 
work in the last supreme effort. The boss, sitting at the 
telephone, gave orders here, there and everywhere to 
whip and terrify wavering assemblymen into line. He 
had to call on some of Ba^rnes's men, and these did not 
fail him. 



THE GOVERNOR 167 



AN INVENTORY OF THE SULZER-MURPHY 

WAR. 



What Murphy Blocked. 



Direct nominations. 

Reorganization of the Public Service Gommission. 

Holding up Sulzer appointments. 

Efficient administration of the Department of Labor by 
refusing to let the Senate confirm John Mitchell. 

Necessary expenditures in the investigation of high- 
ways, canal and other contract frauds, by holding up ap- 
propriations in the legislature, and by refusing executive 
vouchers in Tammany comptroller's office. 

Defeating the choice of a new health commissioner to 
give effect to the modern health law. 

Defeating reorganization of the State Banking Depart- 
ment. 

Defeating highway contracts approved by the Gom- 
missioner for badly needed road construction. 

Defeating appointments of various men who had not 
been indorsed by Tammany. 

What Murphy Did 

Insisted that he was state leader and demanded the 
patronage, even in the few counties where the Demo- 
cratic organization was anti-Murphy. 

Threatened to ''destroy" Sulzer if he did not surrender 
his title to state leadership to the leader of Tammany. 

Galled a conference of Democrats in Delmonico's and 
began to inspire attacks on the private life of the gov- 
ernor. 



1G8 THE BOSS, OR 

Created the Frawley committee to offset the revela- 
tions of graft under two years of Tammany rule of the 
State. 

Gave orders to "vindicate" Senator Stilwell. 

Caused his lieutenants to investigate Sulzer, and bring 
impeachment proceedings, as he had threatened to do 
when Sulzer refused to submit to his demands. 

Used pressure to compel the Assembly to vote the im- 
peachment. 

What Sulzer Did 

Proclaimed early in his administration that his election 
made him state leader of the Democratic party, and in- 
vited any one who challenged his leadership to come out 
in the open and fight. 

Vetoed the Blauvelt direct primary bill, on the ground 
that it did not carry out the pledges of the Democratic 
platform, and insisted on the enactment of a thorough- 
going direct nomination law. Went all over the state 
denouncing the bosses for blocking primary reform. 

Called the legislature in extraordinary session to enact 
a primary law. 

Appointed Blake and Hennessy to investigate frauds 
in various departments. Obtained proofs of graft in 
state capitol contracts. E. W. Hoefer, state architect, 
forced out. 

Gigantic frauds in contracts for highways discovered, 
resulting in indictments and the removal from office of 
Tammany men who had conspired with contractors to 
plunder the state of millions. 

Investigation of frauds in canal construction. 

Proved through the Hennessy investigation that one of 
Sulzer's own appointees. John H. Delaney, was using the 
newly created Department of Efficiency and Economy to 
support the Murphy machine. This department was 
created by the efforts of Gov. Sulzer to put the chaotic 



THE GOVERNOR 169 

and slovenly departmental systems of the state on a scien- 
tific basis, and was the result of an investigation by the 
commission of inquiry, which he appointed early in his 
term, to eliminate typical Tammany methods in public 
office. 

Caused the reorganization of the Department of Labor, 
with provisions meant to better the conditions of labor 
throughout the state, to conserve the health and protect 
the lives of workers. 

Appointed a sanitary commission, the result of which 
was a law reorganizing the State Health Department, and 
making it possible to substitute up-to-date scientific meth- 
ods for an archaic scheme. 

Vetoed $8,000,000 appropriations, which cut ofif such 
graft as the state printing contracts and the padding of 
payrolls for the support of an army of Tammany idlers. 

Appointed George W. Blake to investigate the state 
prisons, found shocking conditions and frauds in the 
contracts, obtained indictments, and conditions at Sing 
Sing and Great Meadow prisons were shown to be so 
horrible that the legislature was asked to order the build- 
ing of a new penitentiary. 

Caused the passage of the Stock Exchange bills to 
regulate speculation in stocks in the interests of in- 
vestors. 

Demanded the resignation of Senator Stilwell, upon 
proof that he had demanded a bribe for his influence in 
favor of a bill, and brought about the imprisonment of 
ths senator after the legislature had whitewashed the 
guilty legislator. 

Refused Alurphy's demands for the appointment of 
James E. Gaffney, Murphy's contracting partner, to be 
commissioner of highways, in charge of the expenditure 
of the new $50,000,000 appropriation. 

Declined to appoint "The" McManus as commissioner 
of labor on the demand of Murphy, and rejected his 



170 THE BOSS, OR 

recommendations of other Tammany favorites for im- 
portant state offices. 

Took advice about appointments of experts in various 
administrative offices from leading members of their pro- 
fession, instead of from Tammany leaders. 

Vetoed a workingmen's compensation bill, devised 
more in the interest of employers and insurance com- 
panies than for the benefit of workingmen. 

Signed the full crew bill. 

Signed the Civil Rights bill. 

Signed the Negro Regiment bill. 

Vetoed the infamous McKee Public School bills. 

Vetoed the Constitutional Convention bill. 

Vetoed over eight millions of dollars of unnecessary 
appropriations. 

Invoked the machinery of justice to rid the State of 
grafters. 

Signed the Home Rule bill for cities. 

Saved the taxpayers more money in less time than any 
other governor in the history of the State.. 

Refused to compromise with Murphy and the grafters. 

Fought consistently for decent citizenship and honest 
Government. 

Said he would rather be right than be Governor ; that 
he would rather have his self-respect than any office. 



THE GOVERNOR 



171 




THE GOVERNOR'S LAST MEETING WITH 
THE CHIEF. 



\ 



173 ' THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XX. 

WHAT IS GREATNESS? 

SPEECH OF GOVERNOR SULZER TO A DELE- 
GATION OF SCHOLARS FROM WALTON 
HIGH SCHOOL, DELAWARE COUNTY, N. Y., 
HEADED BY SENATOR WHEELER AND 
PROFESSOR DARLING, WHO CALLED AT 
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, MARCH 21, 1913, TO 
PAY THEIR RESPECTS. 

Governor Sulzer said : 

"Professor, Senator, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is a 
great pleasure for me to welcome you to the Executive 
Chamber of the capitol of the State of New York. No- 
body is more welcome here than the teachers and the 
scholars of our State. I take a deep interest in the wel- 
fare of the students and the teachers in our schools. 

"I believe the teacher is about the greatest man, or 
woman, in the world. The teachers' profession is in 
many respects the greatest profession on earth. The 
work that the teacher does for society, the general 
welfare, and civilization, is a work often little appre- 
ciated, but its lasting benefit to all is of far-reaching 
importance. 

"I have always said, and repeat it now, that great credit 
and commendation should be given the teachers of the 
world. They- are doing a work for the good of 
humanity, and any work that benefits humanity is a 
world work that ought to be appreciated by every citizen, 
from one end of the country to the other. All honor 
to our teachers. 



THE GO\ERNOR 173 

"You come from a well-known school, in a well-known 
county of our State. I like Delaware county, and I 
know something about your school. You are to be con- 
gratulated that you are students in that famous institu- 
tion of learning. I know the education you are getting 
there, and how beneficial it is to you now, and how very 
much more beneficial it will be to you as the years come 
and go. 

"Sometimes our students — the boys and girls — do not 
appreciate the advantages they enjoy under the free in- 
stitutions of our State. But in after years, when you 
come to look upon these student days, you will see 
things in a greater light, and with a clearer perception,- 
than you do now. At all events, now is the time for 
you to appreciate all that your teachers are doing for 
you. Be grateful to them; obey them; be sympathetic 
with them; and try to work with them for your own 
good. Learn all you can in your learning days: Now 
is the time. After awhile you will not have so much 
time to learn as you have now. What you learn now 
you will never forget. Store away in the back of your 
heads — that great reservoir that God has put there — 
all the knowledge you can get, so that you can utilize 
it when you go out in the world to make your own for- 
tune. 

"The world is before you. Opportunity is yours. It 
is in your own power to make or mar your own career. 
The country waits for the man, or the woman, who 
knows how. 

"Real greatness consists in the possession and devel- 
opment of three faculties — observation, by which you 
acquire knowledge; concentration, by which you store 
it away; and analyzation, by which you utilize it. Any 
individual who possesses, well-developed, these three 
great faculties is a genius. Very few people in all the 
annals of the world have possessed them. Those that 



174 THE BOSS, OR 

have possessed them 'have written their names in endur- 
ing fame all through the pages of human history. 

"A man or a woman, with these three great faculties 
well-developed appears on the stage of humanity only 
once or twice in a thousand years, but he, or she, never 
disappears. These kind of people live forever. Do not 
forget that. That is the real secret of all true success 
in every walk of life and along every avenue of pur- 
suit. 

''You can look into the faces of people and see whether 
they have the faculty of observation or not, by the shape 
of their forehead. Some have it more than others ; but 
all have it to a greater or lesser degree. That is the first 
great thing — observation, by which you acquire knowl- 
edge through the eyes, through the ears, and through 
every other sense and faculty. 

"Then comes concentration. Remember that knowl- 
edge is of no use unless you concentrate it, that is 
put it away, store it up so to speak, so you can use it 
in the future when you most need it. 

"And now last and greatest of all, analyzation, by 
which you can take that knowledge from the store- 
house, analyze it, like a chemist will analyze a piece of 
rock, and then utilize all that is of value. 

*Tn conclusion let me urge you to develop these three 
faculties. You have them. We all have them. Those 
who develop them the most will become the greatest 
women and the greatest men. Do not forget this. What 
the country needs to-day, more than anything else, is 
great men and good women who will protect and pre- 
serve what the fathers vouchsafed to us — our free in- 
stitutions — and hand them down unimpaired to future 
generations." 



THE GOVERNOR 175 



CHAPTER XXI. 

PATRIOTISM. 

A TRIBUTE TO THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS 
OF THE UNION. 

GOVERNOR SULZER'S SPEECH AT THE UN- 
VEILING OF THE MAINE MEMORIAL MON- 
UMENT, AT THE ENTRANCE TO CENTRAL 
PARK, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ON 
MEMORIAL DAY, MAY 30, 1913. 

Governor Sulzer spoke as follows : 

''Fellow citizens: Personally, and as the chief magis- 
trate of the State of New York, I am glad to be here 
this afternoon, to witness the unveiling of the Maine 
memorial monument, and to participate in the patri- 
otic ceremonies incident to this inspiring occasion. 

'Tt is fitting that this memorial monument, to the 
heroes of the Maine, should grace the entrance of one 
of the grandest parks in all the world, and for years to 
come embellish and beautify the city of New York. 

"For decades yet to follow, this Maine memorial monu- 
ment will stand as a silent lesson of the patriotic duty 
of every American citizen. This beautiful monument — 
a superb work of art — for all time, will be a mute tes- 
timonial to the people of our land, that no man who 
dies for his country, ever dies in vain. Until it crum- 
bles into dust, this strong work in stone will solemnly 
commemorate one of the greatest events in the annals 
of our history — an event which changed the map of the 



176 THE BOSS, OR . 

world, created a new republic, and made the United 
States one of the greatest world powers on earth. 

"The two hundred and sixty-three brave sailors who 
went down to death beneath the waters in the mud and 
muck of Havana harbor, on that fateful night fifteen 
years ago, gave up their lives for our flag, and died as 
bravely as any soldier that ever shed his blood on the 
battlefield for freedom. 

''This magnificent monument, reared to the eternal 
fame of our heroic dead, will be an inspiration to gener- 
ations yet unborn, because it typifies a great idea ; be- 
cause it stands for a great theme — the love of country — 

"The tumult and the shouting dies. 
The captains and the kings depart ; 

Yet stands thine ancient sacrifice. 
An humble and a contrite heart ; 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet; 

Lest we forget, lest we forget." 

**A11 honor to them — the brave defenders of our coun- 
try — their fame is secure. They sleep the sleep that 
knows no awakening, in the silent mausoleum of Arling- 
ton — our country's cemetery for its immortal dead — 

"On fame's eternal camping ground, 

Their silent tents are spread ; 
And glory guards with solemn round, 

The bivouac of the dead." 

"We erect this beautiful monument not only -as a mem- 
orial to the dead, but also as a beacon to the liv- 
ing. It will ever be an inspiration to the living as well 
as a testimonial to the dead. From the heroism of their 
sacrifice let every true American take renewed hope for 
the perpetuity of our free institutions, and greater cour- 



THE GOVERNOR 1'?^ 

age to stand by the American navy, for which they 
yielded up the last full measure of their devotion 

''And now, in the presence of this vast assemblage— 
in the shadow of this monument we have just unveiled 
—I would be remiss if I did not say, all honor to the 
men whose patriotism has made that monument possible. 
All honor to the members of the Maine memorial com- 
mittee; all honor to the generous citizens who con- 
tributed the funds to rear this monument. They have 
done a patriotic work; they are entitled to the com- 
mendation of their fellow citizens. 

''On this Memorial day— the day of all the year for 
these ceremonies-I say-all glory to the brave soldiers 
and sailors of our country. This is their day-dedicated 
to them by a grateful country— sacred to the soldiers 
and sailors, living and dead, who saved the Union. 

"There is no honor in the republic too great lor the 
men who saved the republic. There is no reward in the 
country too great for the men who fought for the 
country. There is no gift in the government too great 
for the widows and the orphans of the men who died 
for the government. Our country should be grateful 
to her brave defenders. We should remember that 
gratitude is the fairest flower that sheds its perfume 
in the human heart. 

"The republic owes her defenders and her saviors a 
debt of gratitude it never can pay— so long as that flag 
(pointing to the Stars and Stripes) floats over a glorious 
and reunited country-and forever and a day typifies al 
that we are, and all that we hope ^ to be-the greatest 
and the grandest republic on earth." 



178 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XXH. 

GOVERNOR SULZER'S REMARKS TO A LARGE 
DELEGATION OF THE HUDSON VALLEY 
LOYAL ORDER OF MOOSE, WHO CALLED 
TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS. 

The Governor baid : 

"Brothers, I am glad to meet you. I welcome you 
to the Executive Chamber of the State of New York. 

"I trust your sojourn in our Capital City will be agree- 
able, and that you will take away favorable recollections 
that will abide with you throughout the rest of your lives. 

"Of course I know just a little about your Order, 
having recently become a Moose — not a Bull Moose — 
but just an everyday Moose. (Laughter and applause.) 

'Tt is a good Order, a growing Order, and it is doing, 
I am glad to say, a charitable, a benevolent, and a hu- 
manitarian work. Every agency of this kind deserves 
the support and the respect of every patriotic citizen in 
our country. 

"As a new member of the Order I do not intend to 
inflict upon you to-day the kind of a speech you hear 
from the brothers who talk about the Moose in and out 
of our Lodges. But when I have the time to spare I hope 
to meet you in the Lodge, and to hear from you, and 
thus gain real knowledge of the Order. 

"I understand that to-morrow you are to have quite 
an afifair. I promised some of the Brothers to be with 
you to-morrow afternoon, and I suppose, say a few 
words then to you. 

"So we will make this speech to-day as brief as pos- 
sible. You realize that I am very busy here, and then 



THE GOVERNOR 1*^9 

again, 'yo^ know that brevity in our Order, as in all 
things, is the soul of wit." (Applause.) 

On Legislation 

While Mr. Sulzer was Governor he made it a rule 
not to commit himself in advance regarding pending 
legislation. His remarks, March 25, 1913, to a large 
delegation of men and women who called at the ex- 
ecutive chamber to protest against certain bills, elicited 

this response. 

'Tadies and Gentlemen : I have listened with interest 
to all you have said about pending legislation. Of 
course, you know, I have a rule which I seldom break, 
and that is not to commit myself regarding legislation be- 
fore it comes to me for approval or disapproval. 

"If I should say that I favored this bill, and opposed 
that bill, I would get in so much trouble every day, not 
only with the members of the Legislature, but with the 
people generally, that I wouldn't be able to accomplish 
much work for the people as the Governor. So I try 
to keep my own counsel on bills pending in the legisla- 
ture. It is a good rule. 

"I am very glad to hear what you have to say. No 
man in the State takes a greater interest in the welfare 
of humanity than I do. I am in favor of everything 
that is for the general welfare, and I am against every- 
thing that is against the best interest of humanity." 



THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XXHI. 
SPEECH ON FIRE PREVENTION. 

REMARKS OF GOVERNOR SULZER, APRIL 2, 
1913, TO A LARGE DELEGATION OF CITI- 
ZENS FROM NEW YORK CITY, HEADED 
BY FIRE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON, OF 
THE CITY OF NEW YORK, APPEARING IN 
THE INTEREST OF THE SO-CALLED ANTI- 
ARSON LEGISLATION. 

Governor Sulzer said: 

^'Commissioner Johnson and Gentlemen : It is a pleas- 
ure for me to welcome you to the Capitol of our State. 
Of .course I know, in a way, your mission here, and in 
that mission I wish you all success. 

''There is no one in the State more anxious to pre- 
vent arson than I am, and anything that will bring that 
about will meet with my approval. You can rely on me 
in this matter. * 

"Doubtless you know I have a rule which I seldom 
break, and that is not to commit myself for or against 
pending legislation before it comes to me for approval 
or disapproval. If I did otherwise, I would be in trouble 
all the time. 

"As a matter of fact, some of the railroad officials 
think I did commit myself last fall to the full crew legis- 
lation, but they are mistaken about it. There is no truth 
in these statements regarding the full crew bill so far 
as I am concerned. The railway people know it. But 
I want you citizens, and all citizens of the State, to re- 
member that I am in favor of the general welfare, and 



THE GOVERNOR 181 

that the general welfare rises, in my judgment, at all 
times superior to the private welfare of corporations. 

*'I take a broad view of every proposition, and in my 
own way decide it along equitable lines for the greatest 
good to the greatest number. That is my rule. I shall 
adhere to it to the end in the interests of all." 



18^ THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

BIRTHDAY SPEECH. 

SPEECH OF MR. SULZER AT THE COMPLIMEN- 
TARY DINNER IN HIS HONOR, TO CELE- 
BRATE HIS 50TH BIRTHDAY, AT THE 
CAFE BOULEVARD, NEW YORK CITY, 
MARCH 18, 1913. 

(Stenographically Reported.) 

Mr. Sulzer said: 

*'My friends: No words of mine — and I speak from 
the depths of a grateful heart — can tell you how much 
I appreciate this dinner in celebration of my birthday. 

"Here assembled are some of the best friends a man 
ever had. If I have done aught in the years gone by to 
justify this recognition of your kindness, of your gen- 
erosity, and of your appreciation, the credit is yours, be- 
cause all that I am I owe, to a large extent, to those 
around this festive board for the confidence they have 
reposed in me, and in the rectitude of my intentions, 
during the years I represented this district in the Con- 
gress of the United States. 

"You know me as I am; and as I am. Lever hope to 
be. I would not be different if I could, and I could not 
if I would. You know that I have no race, no political, 
and no religious prejudice. The only prejudice I have 
is against intrenched wrongs, to remedy which I have 
struggled all my life. I am broad-minded in my views. 
I believe in my fellowman, in the good of society gen- 
erally, and I know that the world is growing better. My 



THE GOVERNOR 183 

face is to the dawning of the better day that heralds the 
coming of the Brotherhood of Man. 

"In the future, as in the past, you can count on me to 
struggle to help those who need help; to do my share 
in my day and generation for the general welfare; to 
aid oppressed humanity in every land and in every clime ; 
and to raise the lowly to a higher level in the onward 
march of progress. 

''Long ago, I made a vow to the people that in the 
performance of my duty no influence would control me 
but the dictates of my conscience and my determination 
to do the right — as I see the light, — day in and day out, 
regardless of the political future or of personal conse- 
quences. Have no fear. I shall stick to that. 

''Let me say again that I stand now, where I have al- 
ways stood, and where I always will stand — for certain 
fundamental principles — for freedom of speech; for the 
right of lawful assembly; for the freedom of the press; 
for liberty under law; for civil and religious freedom; 
for constitutional government; for justice to all; for 
home rule and local self-government; for the reserved 
rights of the States; for equal rights to everyone and 
special privileges to no one; and for unshackled oppor- 
tunity as the beacon light of individual hope, and the 
best guarantee for the perpetuity of our free institu- 
tions. 

"As many of you know I have been over some of 
the celebrated trails of our country — the trails made 
by our early settlers in the pioneer days of the Repub- 
lic. A few years ago I travelled over the famous 'Santa 
Fe Trail' stretching away from St. Louis westward and 
southward to the capitol of New Mexico. There in the 
old Plaza, where the trail ends, is a small granite shaft 
to the memory of Kit Carson, the pathfinder, the scout, 
and the guide of that world-renowned route. On it are 
inscribed these simple words, 'Well done, Kit.' 

"When my career on earth is finished, and I am 



184 - . THE BOSS, OR 

gatKered to the fathers, I indulge the hope that if I have 
done aught for my fellow man, that those who appreciate 
my efforts for our common humanity will erect over my 
grave a simple shaft, and on it inscribe the words : 
'Well done, Bill.' I want no greater glory — no more 
lasting fame." 



THE GOVERNOR 185 



CHAPTER XXV. 

ON POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE. 

GOVERNOR SULZER'S SPEECH ON POLITICAL 
INDEPENDENCE, DELIVERED AT THE 
BANOUET OF THE DEMOCRATIC EDITOR- 
IAL ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF NEW 
YORK, HELD AT THE HOTEL TEN EYCK, 
ALBANY, N. Y., TUESDAY EVENING, 
MARCH 25, 1913. 

(Reprinted from Knickerbocker-Press.) 

Mr Sulzer said: 

SOME OLD TRUTHS. 

"This is a fitting time to reiterate some old truths. 
It never hurts the truth to tell it twice. The truth is 
always old and ever new, and in the end truth pre- 
vails. The record of what I have done thus far 
is straight. I shall fight on to keep the record of my 
administration straight. 

THE NOMINATION. 

"The people know that my nomination for Governor 
came to me because for long years I worked for the peo- 
ple, and through my own exertions I earned the good 
will of the people by deeds done and works accomplished. 



18G THE BOSS, OR 

CANDIDATE OF A UNITED PARTY. 

"I was the candidate of a united party and an un- 
shackled convention. I went to Syracuse not as a can- 
didate, but to fight for a principle — the principle of an 
open convention, a fair field, and no favor. I won that 
fight ; and as a result the standard was placed in my 
hands ; and I carried it to victory. 

CAMPAIGN PROMISES. 

"During the campaign I said over and over again that 
if I were elected Governor I would go into office without 
a promise, except my promise to all the people to serve 
them honestly, and faithfully, and to the best of my 
ability ; that I was free ; without entanglements ; and that 
I should remain free; that when I took the oath of of- 
fice it was my purpose to be the Governor of all the 
people, and that the Executive office would be in the 
Capital. No one who understands the English language 
could have misunderstood the purport of my words. At 
all events I meant then what I said, and I reiterate it 
now ; and in the future I shall adhere without deviation 
to every promise I made to the people. 

THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

*'As an evidence of this, when I took the oath of of- 
fice, I said in my inaugural address that it was my pur- 
pose to be the Governor of all the people, and to do every- 
thing in my power for progressive reforms along con- 
structive and constitutional lines ; that whatever I did 
as Governor would always be open and above 
board ; that I should confide in the people when in doubt ; 
and I indulged the hope that when my official term 
ended I should have accomplished something to merit 



THE GOVERNOR 187 

their approval, and to justify the confidence they had re- 
posed in the rectitude of my intentions. 

THE TASK OF ADMINISTRATION, 

"Soon after I became Governor I realized the deplor- 
able conditions in State affairs and promptly made up 
my mind what to do. The work was mine. The task 
of administrative reform was put in my hands. The 
cause was the cause of the State, and I determined to 
shirk no responsibility in my efforts to secure in the pub- 
lic service greater economy and more efficiency ; to up- 
root official corruption ; to eliminate graft ; and to raise 
higher the standard of civic righteousness and official 
integrity. What I have done thus far speaks for itself, 
and I have only begun. No man realizes more than I 
do the obstacles that are put in the way. But I see 
clearly the right, and have concluded to go forward 
without hesitation, and with the determination to do 
my whole duty fearlessly, regardless of the political fu- 
ture or of personal consequences. 

NOT AN AGENT. 

"As the Governor, I knew, from the experience of 
the past, that in order to succeed I had to be the Gov- 
ernor in fact as well as in name. I have never been an 
agent, and I never will be. No boss, no man, no party, 
and no organization can make me a rubber stamp. I am 
the Governor. Let no man doubt that. 

THE STATE LEADERSHIP. ^ 

"My friends are aware that I thought out the situa- 
tion carefully, because I believe in being patient and mak- 
ing progress slowly. When the newspaper representa- 
tives in Albany, day in and day out, reiterated their 



188 THE BOSS, OR 

questions as to my political status, I finally told them, 
once and for all, that the people had elected me the 
Governor; that they expected me to be the Governor; 
that I stood on the verdict at the polls; that the judg- 
ment of the electors constituted me the leader of my 
party in the State; that I should be the leader, come 
weal or woe, while I was the Governor, in order to make 
my administration a success and meet the just hopes of 
my constituents; and if anyone, I cared not who, chal- 
lenged my right to be the Governor I wanted that man 
to come out into the open, and we would submit the 
question to the people for their decision. 

THE VISIBLE GOVERNMENT. 

*'No one thus far has challenged my title to the Gov- 
ernorship, or my right by virtue thereof to the leader- 
ship of my party in the State, and until it is challenged 
openly and publicly, I rest on the judgment of Election 
Day and will say no more about it. Hence I shall go 
forward with my work on the assumption that so long 
as I am Governor the seat of political power in the State 
of New York is in the Executive Chamber of the Capi- 
tol. There all are welcome — high and low, rich and poor, 
great and small. There at the big desk, in the big room, 
is the visible Government of the Empire State. 

THE INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT. 

"Of course I have no vanity in this matter, or in any 
other matter so far as that is concerned. I assume the 
leadership because I want to make the Governorship all 
that the people intended it should be when they adopted 
the State Constitution. I am assuming very little. I 
just want to do what is right. That is all. The people 
understand the proposition if the politicians do not. Be- 
tween what I know to be right, and what some other 



THE GOVERNOR 189 

man says is right, and wants me to do, I shall do what 
I know to be right. In the last analysis, I must be the 
judge between right and wrong; and my conscience 
must be the only guide that decrees my duty to the 
State. My obligations make me responsible to the peo- 
ple. No other man can be while I hold the office. Be- 
tween the visible government and the invisible govern- 
ment the rank and file know the difference, and I have 
no fear of the ultimate result. 

CERTAIN FUNDAMENTALS. 
HOME RULE. 

**No man in all this land is a greater believer than 1 
am in the doctrine of home rule as a fundamental right. 
Long experience has taught me that many of the evils 
the people want remedied; that most of the things the 
people want done, can be remedied, and can be done, 
through local agencies, without interference, or inva- 
sion, by the National or the State Legislatures. 

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

"We should stand squarely for home rule and local 
self-government — home rule for the State, that is for 
the reserved rights of the State, against encroachments 
by the central government at Washington ; home rule 
for the villages, and the towns, and the cities of the State, 
against State invasion and legislative tinkering; and last 
but not least, for the political rights of each and every 
county, which means political independence from domin- 
ation from any outside boss, or dictatorial invasion from 
any man in any other county. I want to see each county 
in our State politically independent of political inter- 
ference from any other county, and have the right to 
settle its own political affairs in its own political way. 



190 THE BOSS, OR 

FIRM FOR THE DOCTRINE. 

"Home rule is a part of my political religion. I shall 
stand firm for this doctrine. In the future, as in the 
past, I shall adhere tenaciously to the principle of local 
self-government — civil and political. A denial of this 
fundamental right is an indictment of American patri- 
otism, and an arraignment of the intelligence of our 
citizenship. 



NO INTERFERENCE, SAVE FOR THE COMMON WEAL. 



"The people can count on me as the Governor of the 
State not to interfere with home rule in any locality 
if I can possibly avoid it. Certainly I shall do all in my 
power to prevent others from doing it. If I do inter- 
fere, directly or indirectly, it must be for the good of 
the general welfare, and then only in a case that rises 
far superior to local considerations. 



A SOURCE OF WEAKNESS. 

"No one need tell me the obstacles and the difificulties 
that confront a public official in the distribution of the 
offices. I am no novice. Politics to a very large extent 
is government ; and government in the same ratio is poli- 
tics. I know patronage is a source of weakness. "About 
seven-tenths of my time is taken up with public duties 
concerning the general welfare, and about three-tenths 
is occupied in listening to appeals of office seekers, and 
trying to distribute fairly the few ofhces I have at my 
disposal. 

"As a matter of fact, I wish all places were in the 
classified service, or that I had no positions to bestow. 



THE GOVERNOR 191 

I would be happier, and make fewer enemies, and I know 
I am making enemies every day — bitter enemies — be- 
cause I cannot see my way clear in the performance of 
my duty to give men who seek office the places they de- 
sire. 

THE TEST FOR OFFICE. 

"Of course in making appointments I will listen to the 
suggestions of good citizens, and carefully consider 
recommendations of county committees, but in the 
end I insist that I shall be the judge of the quali- 
fications . of the applicant; that the applicant must 
be honest ; that he must be capable ; that he must be 
efficient; and finally that he must be faithful to the best 
interest of the people of the State. Public office must 
be a public trust. That is the test. In the performance 
of my duty I have no friends to reward ; no enemies to 
punish ; no ambition to gratify ; no machine to strengthen ; 
no organization to build up. That is all there is to it — 
and it is all so simple — if one wants to do right. 

WILL STICK TO PRINCIPLES. 

"In conclusion I cannot refrain from saying that no 
Governor, in his efforts — for civic righteousness — for 
purer politics — for progressive legislation and for ad- 
ministrative reforms, ever needed the help of decent citi- 
zens more than I do. They can count on me to do my 
duty day in and day out as I see the right — and God 
gives me the light. When I began my political career — 
long years ago — I made a vow to the people that in the 
performance of my duty no influence would control me 
but the dictates of my conscience, and my determination 
to do my duty to all the people. That is my platform. 
Have no fear. I have the courage of my convictions, 
and shall stick to my principles." 



192 THE BOSS, OR 

SULZER COULD NOT BE BOSSED. 

Wm. Sulzer needs no eulogy. His place in history 
is secure. He will live in the hearts of his countrymen 
for the good he dared to do. He showed how to be a pa- 
triot. He wrote a large chapter in the annals of New 
York, as one of her most honest, one of her most fear- 
less, and one of her most independent Executives. He 
will live in the history of the Commonwealth as one of 
her greatest reformers. He did things. He showed 
great moral courage. He was his own master, and he 
never was afraid. 

No Boss could control Wm. Sulzer. During the time 
he was Governor, he made a remarkable record — a record 
which has become a part of our glorious history — and 
nothing his enemies say, can detract from his bril- 
liant accomplishments as a statesman. 

Wm. Sulzer will live in the hearts of decent citizens. 
As a patriot he will rank with Lincoln. As a statesman 
he will stand with Wright. As a reformer he will be 
compared with Tilden. Besides, Sulzer had only begun 
his work of reform. He was only on the threshhold of 
his efforts for honest government when he was removed 
from office by the foulest political conspiracy in the an- 
nals of American history. However, the results of Mr. 
Sulzer's work as Governor will live long in the affairs of 
New York, and the resultant benefits will be felt by 
the people for centuries yet to come. 

When the future historian comes to faithfully and im- 
partially write the story of what Sulzer did, and of his 
unconstitutional removal from the office of Governor, he 
will give as the real reason for that infamous act the 
following, viz. : — 

First: Mr. Sulzer's persistent efforts to secure the 
enactment of the Full Crew legislation to conserve hu- 
man life on the railroads^ 

Second: Mr. Sulzer's persistent efforts to secure the 



THE GOVERNOR 193 

enactment of the laws he recommended to compel honest 
dealings on the New York Stock Exchange. : . 

Third: Mr. Sulzer's dogged refusal to approve the 
iniquitous McKee PubHc School Bills which would give 
control of our public schools to a religious denomination. 
Fourth: Mr. Sulzer's successful efforts to secure the 
repeal of the notorious charter of the Long Sault De- 
velopment Company, by which the State of New York 
received back its greatest water power and the most valu- 
able of its natural resources, r ;: 

Fifth: Mr. Sulzer's defiance of the bossesf-big and 
little— and his heroic fight for honest and genuine direct 
primaries. 

Sixth: Mr. Sulzer's determined refusal to he a: proxy 

Governor or a rubber stamp — like Dix and Glynn for 

Charles F. Murphy. 

Seventh: Mr. Sulzer's absolute refusal to do what 
Mr. Murphy demanded regarding legislation and ap- 
pointments, and his blunt refusal to call off Blake and 
Hennessy, and stop the investigations which were being 
made, under his direction, to uncover fraud and expose 
graft in the State Departments. 

Eighth : Mr. Sulzer's moral courage, in the perform- 
ance of public duty, wherein he insisted on the trial and 
punishment of Senator Stilwell for extortion. In a pre- 
vious chapter, written by Mr. Sulzer himself, is told the 
story of Stilwell. The fight Mr. Sulzer made to bring 
Stilwell to justice arrayed against the Governor the 
bitter and secret hatred of every crook in the Legisla- 
ture — and their names are known. 

Nmth : ^ Mr. Sulzer's determination to set in motion, 
the machinery of the law, in various counties of the 
State, to indict the grafters and bring them to justice. 
To the impartial investigator who will take the time 
to go over the record, and familiarize himself with the 
real facts, it will be apparent that these were the true 
reasons why Mr. Sulzer was removed from the office of 



194 THE BOSS, OR 

Governor of the State of New York. The Murphy 
reasons — hereafter given — are too ridiculous for con- 
sideration by sane and sensible people. 

We will now consider some of these causes, and ex- 
plain them, in the succeeding chapters: 

First: The fight for the Full Crew Bill. 

Second: The fight to regulate business on the New 
York Stock Exchange. 

Third: The veto of the infamous McKee Public 
School Bills. 

Fourth: The fight to repeal the notorious Charter of 
the Long Sault Development Company. 

Fifth: The great fight for honest and genuine direct 
primaries. 

Sixth: The fight against the grafters. 



THE GOVERNOR 195 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

MR. SULZER'S FIGHT FOR THE FULL CREW 

LAW. 

For ten years the trainmen struggled in the State of 
New York for the enactment of a Full Crew Law, to 
protect property and conserve human life on the rail- 
roads. 

The political parties pretended to favor the legisla- 
tion, and their candidates promised to support it. The 
employees of the railroads throughout the State, were 
most anxious to write this law upon the Statute Books. 
Similar laws had been enacted in other States, and 
worked well. However, the railroads bitterly opposed 
this legislation, and fought it with a persistency seldom 
witnessed. 

When Charles E. Hughes was Governor, the Legis- 
lature passed a Full Crew Bill, and Governor Hughes ve- 
toed it. This veto was one of the most unpopular acts 
of his administration. When John A. Dix was Gov- 
ernor, the Legislature again passed a Full Crew Bill, 
and Governor Dix vetoed it, much to the disappoint- 
ment of the Labor people throughout the State. This 
veto was one of the causes of Dix's great unpopularity. 

No doubt great influence was brought to bear, through 
the railroads and their friends, on Governors Hughes and 
Dix, to veto these bills notwithstanding their merits. 

When Mr. Sulzer became Governor, the working peo- 
ple felt confident that no corporate influence could con- 
trol him, and that if they could again pass through the 
Legislature the Full Crew Bill, Mr. Sulzer would sign 
it as a matter of justice. After a hard fight, the bill 



196 THE BOSS, OR 

passed. The railroads thought that Mr. Sulzer would be 
just as easy to control as his predecessors. They de- 
manded a hearing on the bill. The Governor granted it. 
It was one of the largest hearings ever held in the Ex- 
ecutive Chamber. The labor people were well repre- 
sented. The railroads were represented by all their presi- 
dents, their officials, their lawyers, and their lobbyists. 
Every President of every railroad in the State of New 
York was there. The hearing lasted all day. 

Governor Sulzer sat patiently at his desk and listened 
to all who desired to talk. He gave no outward sign of 
what he would do — 'whether he would sign the bill or 
veto it. His silence was construed by the railroad Presi- 
dents as an ominous sign. They immediately launched 
an expensive campaign of newspaper advertising — whole 
pages in the leading papers of the State — for the obvious 
purpose of influencing the editorial columns of these 
newspapers and intimidating the Governor. Then they 
threatened the Governor with political destruction if he 
dared to sign the bill. 

Mr. Sulzer paid no attention to th.se advertisements, 
threats, and attacks. After carefully considering the 
whole matter, he was brave enough, and honest enough, 
and just enough to put his signature to that bill, and 
by it wrote upon the Statute books the Full Crew Law. 

The signing of this bill arrayed against the Governor 
not only the antagonism of the railroads, but the com- 
bined corporate interests of the State, with all their 
agencies and ramifications and newspaper influences. 
The railroads were furious. They began td plot against 
the Governor. How much money they spent in aiding 
Mr. Murphy to depose the Governor will probably never 
be known. The newspapers they controlled and turned 
against the Governor are known. 

When Mr. Sulzer signed the Bill he wrote the follow- 
ing memorandum: 



THE GOVERNOR 197 

State of New York — Executive Chamber^ 

Albany, March 31, 1913. 
Memorandum filed with Assembly Bill No. 1526, en- 
titled : 

"An act to amend chapter four hundred and 
eighty-one of the laws of nineteen hundred and ten, 
being chapter forty-nine of the consolidated laws, 
known as the railroad law, by adding a section 
thereto prescribing the minimum number of em- 
ployees to be employed in the operation of certain 
trains." 
Approved 

This bill provides, in substance, that railroads run- 
ning through the State of New York shall have their 
trains suitably manned by^ a sufficient number of men 
to prevent wrecks, protect property, and conserve human 
life and limb. 

It is a most important measure, and I have given 
the subject matter careful consideration with the view 
of doing substantial justice to all concerned, and pro- 
moting the greatest good for the greatest number. 

Similar bills have passed the Legislature twice be- 
fore but did not meet with Executive approval, because 
it was believed the Public Service Commission had power 
to remedy the evils of which complaint has frequently 
been made. This has not been done, and the matter is 
now before me for official action. 

Considering the fact that the Legislature has by an 
overwhelming vote again passed the bill I am bound to 
assume that this measure concerns the general welfare 
and that the people want it enacted into law. I shall 
not shirk my duty to humanity. 

It cannot be called class legislation, as it affects sub- 
stantially all the people, and has been adopted with good 



198 THE BOSS, OR 

results in other States, and in my judgment will, ere 
long, be the law in more of the States. 

The only objection to the measure on the part of the 
railroads appears to be that it will increase to some ex- 
tent the cost of operation, by reason of the fact that 
a few more men will have to be employed on some of 
the trains. The same objection could be urged with 
equal force to any improvement in the method of rail- 
road operation. 

My judgment is that the conservation of human life 
and limb is as important to the people as a little addi- 
tional expense in the operation of these common car- 
riers. The State for its own welfare has a right to de- 
mand the employment upon the railroads of every safety 
appliance, whether mechanical or human, in the inter- 
est of life, and limb and greater safety standards. 

In my annual message to the Legislature I said : ''Any 
achievement that is purchased at the continued sacrifice 
of human life does not advance our material resources 
but detracts from the wealth of the State. The leaders 
of our civilization now realize these fundamental truths, 
and the statesmen, the scientists, and the humanitarians 
are endeavoring more and more to protect human life, 
and to secure to each individual not only the right to 
life, but the right to decent standards of living. We have 
had to change old customs and repeal antiquated laws. 
We must now convince employers that any industry that 
saps the vitality and destroys the initiative of the workers 
is detrimental to the best interests of the State and men- 
aces the general welfare of the Government." 

Every safeguard it seems to me should "be employed 
by the railroads to prevent wrecks, to protect the prop- 
erty of shippers, and to conserve human life and limb — 
not only of the employees but of the traveling public. 
The progressive spirit of the time demands it, and the 
trend of present-day legislation is all that way. 

The inauguration of these reforms, in my opinion, will 



THE GOVERNOR 199 

create greater safety, and establish more efficiency in the 
operation of railway transportation, and in the end prove 
economical to the railroads, by preventing wrecks, with 
the resultant loss of life and limb, entailing necessarily 
great financial loss in damages to the railroad companies. 
At all events between the extra cost in dollars and the 
extra cost in lives, if I err at all in reaching an equitable 
conclusion regarding official action on this bill, I prefer 
to err on the side of life and limb and flesh and blood. 
The law requiring airbrake equipment, self-couplers, 
standardization of equipment, hours of service limits, and 
boiler inspection met with practically the same opposi- 
tion that is now urged against this measure, and yet I 
venture to say few if any common-sense railroad officials 
would favor the repeal of a single one of these salutary 
acts. 

It is amazing to note the number of people killed, or 
injured each year on the railroads. The statistics show 
that during the year ending June 30, 1911, more than 
ten thousand persons were killed and over a hundred and 
fifty thousand people injured on our railroads, and of 
these over three thousand, or about 35 per cent, of the 
killed, and over a hundred thousand, or about 75 per 
cent, of the injured, were railroad employees. It seems 
strange, in view of modern safety devices, that so large 
a number of employees should be killed and injured 
every year. 

The bill in my opinion is not unjust to the railroads, 
but simple justice to the railway employees and to the 
much-concerned traveling public. Their rights must not 
be overlooked — especially in view of the appalling facts 
that during the twenty-four years covered by the sta- 
tistics of the Interstate Commerce Commission, 188,037 
persons have been killed, and 1,395,618 persons injured 
on the railroads of the United States. This is an average 
of 7,835 persons killed and 58,150 injured each year, 
or an annual total of nearly 66,000 persons killed and 



200 THE BOSS, OR 

injured. This means that for every day during the past 
twenty-four years 181 persons have been killed or in- 
jured — nearly eight every hour, or one every seven min- 
utes, with the regularity of clock work. The ravages 
of war pale into insignificance before these sad and silent 
indications of the destruction of human life and limb ac- 
companying the peaceful operation of our railroads. 

This bill I believe is in the interest of humanity, for 
the general welfare, will go far in the future to change 
for the better these deplorable statistics, and once more 
upon the statute books will meet with popular approval 
and never be repealed. 

Hence all things considered, I shall sign the bill for the 
good of the State. 

WM. SULZER. 

Letter from W, H. Truesdale, President Dela\vare, 
Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company. 

Office of President 

New York City, ^/)n7 3, 1913. 
His Excellency, William Sulzer, Governor of the 
State of New York, Albany, N. Y.\ 

Dear Sir. — We observe in this morning's papers 
tlie explanation of your approving the Full Crew Bill 
in which you, in efifect, say that if its requirements had 
been in force at the time of the accident at Corning, 
N. Y., in July last, this very serious and distressing acci- 
dent would not have occurred. 

In making such statement Your Excellency was cer- 
tainly not familiar with the facts developed in the in- 
vestigation of this case by the Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission and the Public Service Commission of the Sec- 
ond District of the State of New York, as set forth in 
the reports of these two commissions. 

If Your Excellency will examine, or cause to be ex- 



THE GOVERNOR ^01 

amined, the reports referred to, you will find that there 
is not a suggestion in either ot them that the accident 
ill question was due to any of the trains involved not 
being manned by a sufficient number of either trainmen 
or other employees. In both of these reports the blame 
was laid squarely and solely upon an engineer whose 
condition was not what it should have been when he went 
on duty and whose neglect caused the accident. 

.The engineer was indicted for his criminal neglect, 
but was not tried, as we are informed, because of some 
political bargain between his friends and the prosecutmg 
officials of the county in which the accident occurred. 
We have appealed to every official who we thought might 
have any influence, or whose duties were such as might 
lead him to correct this serious maladministration of jus- 
tice, but all to no purpose. 

In justice to this company in particular, aid to the 
railways of the State of New York in general, we re- 
spectfully ask Your Excellency to examine the reports 
of this Corning accident above referred to, and, find- 
ing the facts different from what you claim, that you 
pu^blicly correct your statement that it was due to the 
trains involved being insufficiently manned. 

Without question, the Full Crew Law is the most un- 
justifiable legislation that has yet been enacted for the 
alleged regulation of the railways of the country; but 
the ''management of this company feels particularly out- 
raged that its enactment should be justified, as Your 
Excellency undertakes to do, through a misunderstand- 
ino- of the actual causes of our Corning accident. 
Respectfully yours. 
The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad 

Company, 

By W. H. Truesdale, 

President. 



202 THE BOSS, OR 

THE GOVERNOR'S QUICK REPLY. 

State of New York — ^Executive Chamber. 

Albany, N. Y., April 4, 1913. 

W. H. Truesdaa I, Esq., President, D. L. & W. Rail- 
road, New y <Drk City: 

Dear Sir. — Your letter of the 3d instant, given out 
io the press, received. 

You state that I said, in effect, that if the requirements 
of the Full Crew Law had been i^n force at the time of 
the accident in Corning last July, this very serious and 
distressing accident would not have occurred. 

Pardon me, I did not say that, but I did say, and I 
repeat, "that if the Public Service Commission had ex- 
ercised the power, which you claim it possesses, such ap- 
palling accidents might be avoided as that which oc- 
curred only a few months ago at Corning when forty- 
one persons were killed." 

You ask me to correct this statement because the Com- 
mission, in its report of this terrible accident, makes no 
suggestion that it was due to the trains not being manned 
by a sufficient number of trainmen. 

Let me say that I did not make my statement as an 
echo of the opinion of the Public Service Commission. 
The work of this Commission in analyzing the cause of 
accidents does not in all respects commend itself to me, 
especially, when I learn that during the six years that 
the Commission has been in existence accidents in which 
passengers rave been killed have grown to an appalling 
extent. Why? I think you know. 

The records of the Commission show that in this State 
five times as many passengers were killed last year as 
were killed five years ago ; three times as many were 
killed last year as were killed four years ago : more than 
twice as many were killed last year as were killed three 



THE GOVERNOR ^03 

years ago; and more than twice as many were killed 
last year as were killed two years ago. The records 
also show an increased annual killing and maiming of 
employees. In view of these appalling figures, I think 
that the opinion of the Public Service Commission as 
to the cause and prevention of accidents may reasonably 
be questioned by thoughtful and observant people. 

My opinion is that the responsibility of running fast 
trains with their precious loads of human freight, is 
too great to be entrusted to any one human being. The 
railroad companies insist that there is absolutely nothing 
for a full crew to do whose employment is required 
under the new Full Crew law. I respectfully suggest 
to you and other railroad officials having authority, that 
the men required under the law recently passed be placed 
on your trains to see that they do not run by caution sig- 
nals, full stop signals, and flagman, as did Engineer 
Schroeder on the fourth of last July when the Corning 
accident occurred. I would also suggest that it should 
be a part of their duties to observe the physical condi- 
tion of engineers when they report for duty so that men 
who are unfit for duty may be prevented from taking 
charge of the trains. 

In this connection I commend to your attention these 
words from the report of the Public Service Commis- 
sion concerning the Corning accident : 

'The work of enginemen in particular is performed 
under conditions of stress of which the general public 
seems to have a most inadequate appreciation. The 
mere observation of signals upon high speed trains under 
varying conditions of light, storm and fog is a severe 
strain. The slightest inattention while running at the 
rate of a mile a minute may result in the missing of 
a signal. A single error in observation may result in 
a disastrous accident." 

In view of this I submit that it is too much to expect 
that on long runs there shall never be the slightest in- 



204 THE BOSS, OR 

attention on the part of the engineer. To guard against 
the possibility of the sHghtest inattention and the possi- 
bility of a single error, the work upon which the lives 
of hundreds of passengers depend, should not be en- 
trusted to any one fallible human being. 

My memorandum of the new law speaks for itself. 
I subtract nothing from that. I know of no life and 
accident insurance which can be had so cheaply as that 
which is afforded by the Full Crew law. The responsi- 
bilities devolving upon the engineer of fast passenger 
trains are beyond all comparison the greatest imposed 
upon any human beings. The recklesness on the part 
of railroad managers in insisting that these awful re- 
sponsibilities shall continuously devolve upon one man, 
and in contending that there is no occasion for hiring 
a second man to share these responsibilities and to see 
that the ''slightest inattention," or a "single error in ob- 
servation" does not result in accident, is a recklessness 
unparalleled in the annals of business management. 

I regret that the management of your company should 
feel outraged because I have spoken some plain, truthful 
words in justification of the Full Crew Law, but I am 
assure you that the people of the State of New York, 
and particularly the employees of the railroad companies, 
feel outraged that the railroad companies of the State 
killed last year 280 employees, maimed 6,690 ; killed 45 
passengers, and injured 945 passengers. How can you 
justify this? 

I do not complain because you take up the cudgels 
for your railroad. You are supposed to dp that. 
They tell me you receive a very large salary for your 
railroad services. You should not complain if I 
do my duty, as I see it, to the people. They pay me a 
small salary in comparison to yours for doing that. The 
difference is just this : You are working for the rail- 
road ; I am working for the people ; and we see things 
from our respective angles. You put the dollar above 



THE GOVERNOR ^05 

the man; I put the man above the dollar; a human life 
to me is worth more than a human dollar ; that is all. 

You tell me that the Full Crew law will cost your 
company some additional dollars, and this may have 
something to do with your outraged feeling, but when 
the public recalls that your stock is selling at $415 per 
share, and paying annual dividends of 55 per cent., 
your outraged feelings will not excite widespread sym- 
pathy with the traveling public and intelligent citizens. 

In conclusion, I advise you that I have instructed the 
district attorney of Steuben county to investigate the 
serious charges you made against the administration of 
justice in that county, and have directed him to speedily 
report the facts to me for such further action in the 
premises as may be deemed wise and proper. 
Respectfully yours, 

Wm. Sulzer. 

STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR SULZER. 
The Man Above the Dollar. 

The Full Crew Bill, which I signed, Is a meritorious 
measure and provides that the railroad trains running 
through the State of New York shall hereafter be suffi- 
ciently manned to conserve human life and limb. 

Identical bills passed the Legislature twice before, but 
did not meet with executive approval because it was 
believed the Public Service Commission had power to 
remedy the evils of which complaint is made. However, 
the railroads heretofore have contended that the Pub- 
lic Service Commission did not have this power and was 
without jurisdiction. 

The only objection to the measure on the part of the 
railroads was that it would increase to some extent the 
cost of operation by reason of the fact that an addi- 
tional man would have to be employed on some of the 



206 THE BOSS, OR 

long trains. The same objection could be urged with 
equal force to any improvement in the methods of rail- 
road operation. 

In my opinion the conservation of human life and limb 
is more important to the people than a little additional 
expense in the operation of the railroads. The State, 
for its own welfare, has the right to demand the em- 
ployment upon the railroads of every safety appliance, 
whether mechanical or human, in the interest of life and 
limb and greater safety standards. 

Every safeguard, it seems to me, should be employed 
by the railroads to prevent wrecks ; to protect the prop- 
erty of shippers; and to save human life and limb, not 
only of the employees but of the traveling public. The 
progressive spirit of the times demands it, and the trend 
of present day legislation is all that way. 

The official records of the State of New York show 
that five times as many passengers were killed in this 
State !ast year as were killed five years ago ; three times 
as many were killed last year as were killed four years 
ago; more than twice as many were killed last year as 
were killed three years ago ; and more than twice as 
many were killed last year as were killed two years ago. 
The records also show an increased annual kilHng and 
maiming of employees. The people of the State of New 
York feel outraged that the railroad companies in New 
York killed last year 280 employees, maimed 6,690 em- 
ployees ; killed 45 passengers ; and injured 945 passen- 
gers. The people believe the Full Crew Law will go 
far to stop this slaughter. 

The Full Crew Law is not unjust to the railroads, but 
simple justice to the railway employees and the much- 
concerned traveling public. The rights of the people 
must not be overlooked, especially in view of the ap- 
palling fact that during the twenty-four years covered 
bv the statistics of the Interstate Commerce Commission 
188,037 persons have been killed and 1,395,618 persons 



THE GOVERNOR 207 

injured on the railroads of the United States. This is 
an average of 7,835 persons killed, 58,150 persons injured 
each year, or a total of nearly 66,000 persons killed and 
injured annually. This means that for every day during 
the past twenty-four years 181 persons have been killed 
or injured — nearly eight every hour — or one every seven 
minutes with the regularity of clock work. 

The ravages of war pale into insignificance before 
these sad and silent statistics of the destruction of hu- 
man life and limb accompanying the peaceful operation 
of the railroads. Any agency that will stop it is an 
agency for good. Human life is more important than 
dividends. Surely the general welfare rises superior to 
the dividends of the railroads. 

Of course I do not complain about the railroads paying 
the newspapers to denounce me because I signed this just 
and meritorious measure.. But I assure them, as the 
Governor of New York, that I am more interested in 
the conservation of human life than I am in the con- 
servation of railroad dividends. 

Everybody knows that railroad officials are paid 
large salaries to look after the interests of the rail- 
roads. The rank and file know that I am paid a small 
salary, in comparison, to look after the interests of 
the people. When I became Governor I said no influ- 
ence would control me in my official conduct except the 
influence of my conscience, and my determination 
to do my duty to all the people as I see the right and 
God gives me the light. 

My duty to the people in this matter was plain and I 
signed the Full Crew Bill, against the protests of the 
railroad officials, for the greatest good to the greatest 
number. 

These railroad officials are working for the railroads. 
As the Governor of the State of New York I am work- 
ing for the people. I see things from the people's stand- 
point and they see things from the standpoint of the 



208 THE BOSS, OR 

railroads. The railroad officials put the dollar above the 
man. I put the man above the dollar. A human life to 
me is worth more than a human dollar, the opinion of 
the railroad officials to the contrary nothwithstanding. 
In my judgment if the railroads sufficiently equip 
their trains with competent crews they will have fewer 
accidents and less wrecks. This in the end will prove 
economy to the railroads and prevent them from being 
subjected to suits for damages and large financial losses 
necessarily arising therefrom. A year from now I under- 
take to say that if any attempt is made to repeal this 
humane Full Crew Law the railroads themselves, in the 
interest of economy, will be the first to object. 

Wm. Sulzer. 

THE FULL CREW LAW. 

ELON BROWN, OF WATERTOWN. 

{From Leading Editorial in the Albany Argus, 
May 1, 1913.) 

Thank God, the people of the State of New York have 
a Governor that fears no one. He has the courage of his 
convictions. He knows what to do and how to do it and 
what to say and how to say it. Great Governor, this 
man Sulzer. 

Senator Brown, of Watertown, for reasons best 
known to himself, concluded he would pick a quarrel 
with Governor Sulzer. Little did he dream that the 
Governor, when aroused, is a human buzz-saw, has the 
courage of a dozen lions, and the fighting qualities of a 
pack of wildcats. 

Senator Brown charged on the floor of the Senate 
that Governor Sulzer had made a promise during the 
last campaign to sign the full crew legislation. Gov- 
ernor Sulzer at once denied the charge emphatically. 



THE GOVERNOR 209 

Everybody in the State knows the Governor to be a 
truthful man. The people believe Sulzer. 

Brown, however, was not satisfied, and kept nagging 
the Governor about it whenever opportunity presented. 
It turns out, according to an affidavit the Governor 
gave out last night, that Brown himself is guilty of the 
offense, and promised his constituents, when he was a 
candidate for Senator, that he would vote for the full 
crew bill. He voted against it and broke his promise. 
What a contrast ! Poor Brown ! 

Senator Brown also made a savage attack recently, in 
the Senate, upon the Governor. The Governor replied 
very promptly. The reply was a philippic and a crush- 
ing rejoinder. The reply of the Governor seems to have 
hurt the feelings of Senator Brown. The Senator felt 
so badly about it that he threatened to sue the Governor 
for libel. The Governor promptly answered that he was 
no more afariad of a libel suit than he was of Brown, 
and that reply is one of the shortest and most caustic 
letters ever penned by mortal man. It is a classic of its 
kind. 

Everybody is laughing at Brown's discomfiture. He 
ought to have more sense than to attack a man of the 
resources, of the experience, and the fighting qualities of 
the Governor of the State of New York. 

Brown has learned his lesson and is wiser for it. Our 
sympathy and commiseration to Senator Brown ! He 
certainly presents a pitiable sight after his conflict with 
Governor Sulzer. Brown is down and out — a specimen of 
the 'Tn Bad Club." We condole with Brown. We do 
so as follows : 

Then Elon Brown, of Watertown, 
Raised a foolish question when, 

A chunk of Sulzer's logic 
Struck him in the abdomen. 



210 THE BOSS, OR 

Brown smiled a sort of sickly smile, 

And curled upon the floor. 
And subsequent proceedings interested him 

no more. 



THE GOVERNOR 211 



CHAPTER XXVII 

GOVERNOR SULZER DRIVES BOSS BARNES 
FROM THE CAPITOL. 

Interview between the Governor and the newspaper 
correspondents m Albany, April 17, 1913: 

Mr. Relihan : Have you anything to say, Governor, 
about Senator Brown's resolution, introduced last night 
in the Senate, to investigate your approval of the Full 
Crew Bill. 

The Governor: No. 

Mr. Relihan : Are you going to? 

The Governor: That resolution is rot. They tell me 
Boss Barnes went up to the Senate last night and gave 
Brown that resolution. Barnes and Brown cannot keep 
me from doing my duty. They cannot intimidate me. I 
want to say now, however, that if Boss Barnes does not 
keep out of the Senate, and keep his hands off the Legis- 
lature, I will get after Barnes. 

A Reporter: That is the stuff. 

The Governor : They say Barnes is the man who wrote 
that resolution. If he thinks he can keep me from doing 
my duty he has another think coming. Barnes is a part 
of the invisible government. He has no business med- 
dling with the Legislature. I want Barnes to keep away 
from the Capitol. He is the Republican boss. The peo- 
ple don't want bosses up here. The people are the bosses 
now. 

'Mr. Howe: Mr. Barnes was in the Senate, you know, 
last night. 

The Governor : Yes, I know that. 

Mr. Howe : He was there yesterday — nearly all day. 

The Gorernor: Yes; putting up, as he thought, a job 



212 THE BOSS, OR 

on the Governor with Senator Brown. ^Ir. Brown better 
read what the newspapers said about him a few years 
ago. I am not looking for trouble. But if anybody- 
wants trouble with me in the performance of my duty 
to the people he can have it on the drop of the hat. The 
idea of a Senator introducing a resolution like that. It 
is all a trick of Barnes, Brown and the railroads. I want 
to say again I never made a promise to sign the Full 
Crew Bill — but I am glad I did sign it. 

Mr. Hand : Wasn't there a pledge of that kind in the 
Democratic platform? 

The Governor : The platform speaks for itself. 

Mr. Hand: I think there was. 

The Governor: I made no pledges to any one during 
the campaign except general pledges to the people. There 
isn't a man in the State who can say truthfully that I 
made a pledge to get the nomination for Governor or to 
get elected to the office. If any man in the State says I 
made such a pledge let him come forward and prove it. 

I know what this resolution of Brown's was put in for. 
It is done to deter me from doing my duty to the people. 
Between the railroads and the people I am with the peo- 
ple. In my opinion, one human life is worth more than 
a train of freight cars. Who will dispute that? Mr. 
Barnes and Mr. Brown can put up jobs on the Governor, 
but it will not work. I'll go on doing my duty. I want 
boss Barnes to keep away from the Legislature. All 
bosses look alike to me. If the Democratic boss comes 
around there Is an hullabaloo about it, but the Republican 
Boss can do practically what he pleases in the 
Legislature and the newspapers say it is all right. If 
Mr. Barnes is looking for trouble with me, I will give 
him all the trouble he wants here in Albany. I know 
a few things that he knows I know. 



THE GOVERNOR 213 

CHAPTER XXVni 

JUSTICE TO OUR NEGRO SOLDIERS. 

From the Leading Editorial in the Albany Argus, 
June 6, 1913. 

In signing the bill to give our Negro citizens recogni- 
tion in the National Guard Governor Sulzer again has 
demonstrated what so many of his friends have known, 
and have asserted for years, that he is a great big man ; 
that he can rise above race prejudice and religious bigotry^ 
and do justice to man on account of man — regardless of 
race or religion. 

Governor Sulzer has written upon the statute books of 
the State of New York three great laws that will forever 
endear him to all friends of humanity. First, the 
civil rights law, which will do more than any other single 
act, in all the history of our State, for justice and equality 
to all, and wipe out race prejudice and race hatred. 
Secondly, the law appointing a commission of Negroes 
and appropriating $25,000 to fittingly celebrate the fiftieth 
anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. This 
great event certainly should be commemorated by 
the State of New York, and the Governor has seen to 
it that justice was done in the matter. Thirdly, the law 
giving the Negro citizens their rights in the Na- 
tional Guard. For a quarter of a century they have been 
struggling for this recognition, and for all these years 
the door of opportunity was shut in their faces. 

At last came William Sulzer to the executive head of 
the greatest State in the Union. He was brave enough, 
and big enough, and far-seeing enough to do justice 
to the Negro. 

What Sulzer has done in these matters, to say nothing 



214 THE BOSS, OR 

of the other great things he has accomplished, is a tribute 
to his fiead and heart, and will be a monument to his 
greatness as a Governor more enduring than marble and 
brass. 

Let the naggers nag. Let the little men of little 
brains wail and whine. Let the critics criticize. They 
cannot hurt the fame of New York's popular Governor, 
who goes on doing good; on doing right; on doing jus- 
tice ; on fighting for progress and humanity. 

All honor to this brave man, William Sulzer, who 
works for the people. All glory to New York's great 
Governor who loves to do right simply because it is right ; 
who asks for no credit and no praise, but who always 
commands his own self-respect, and ever has the ap- 
proval of his own conscience. 



THE GOVERNOR 215 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

GOVERNOR SULZER'S MEMORANDUM VETO- 
ING THE FOLEY-WALKER WORKMEN'S 
COMPENSATION ACT. 

State of New York — Executive Chamber, 

Albany, May 15, 1913. 
Memorandum filed with Senate Bill, Introductory No. 
1064, Printed No. 2-130, entitled : 

"An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to 
securing compensation to workmen, injured in the 
course of their employment, and repealing certain 
sections of the labor law relating thereto." 
Not Approved : 

The common law rule that the individual employer was 
responsible for injuries only where he was personally at 
fault has been generally discarded by enlightened States 
as unsuitable to modern industrial conditions. 

In European countries, and in many of our States, 
workmen's compensation laws have been passed for the 
purpose of relieving injured workmen and their families 
from the inevitable distress following upon accident with 
its attendant stoppage of wage income. 

These laws usually cover all accidents, including those 
for which employers cannot legally be held liable, and 
they further seek to eliminate or reduce to the lowest 
possible minimum the cost and waste of litigation. 

The Empire State has been slow in promoting reforms 
for our industrial workers. This needed reform in our 
State industrial system is in the interest of both the 



216 THE BOSS, OR 

employer and the workman and is not a political ques- 
tion, but wholly an economic proposition. 

In my message to the Legislature I said, concern- 
ing workmen's compensation laws : 

''Many of our States have enacted workmen's 
compensation laws. The production of our wealth 
in a large measure is a tribute to the ability 
and the efficiency of the workers. It is only 
just, then, that those who do the work should re- 
ceive an equitable share of that which they have 
helped to produce. No compensation is fair which 
does not secure to each worker at least enough to 
permit him, or her, decent standards of life. The 
workers themselves have not always been able to 
secure such compensation for themselves. Particu- 
larly has this been true of women and children, in 
whom the State should take an especial interest. To 
secure for these less accustomed to the competitive 
struggle protection that other workers have won for 
themselves through organization, we should care- 
fully consider the establishment of a workman's 
Compensation law, and of wage boards with au- 
thority to fix a living wage for conditions of work 
below which standards no industry should be allowed 
to continue its operations." 
From the outset the bill now before me met with 
serious opposition from those who are most vitally in- 
terested in securing the benefits designed to accrue from 
legislation of this character. This bill is opposed by the 
State Federation of Labor and the American Association 
of Labor Legislation. 

To my mind a workmen's compensation law which fails 
to inspire the confidence of the industrial toilers for 
whom it is enacted, and which meets with their vigorous 
and emphatic protest, cannot be said to be an adequate 
measure. 

I feel convinced that the objections urged against this 



THE GOVERNOR 217 

bill are serious and substantial, and among them may be 
mentioned that the bill does not eliminate or reduce to 
the lowest possible minimum the waste of litigation, 
which is the crying evil under the present system. 

I am aware of the present constitutional limitation 
necessitating an optional acceptance of the provisions of 
any workmen's compensation act, but I believe that it is 
feasible as demonstrated by the experience of other 
States to provide a proper and comprehensive workmen's 
compensation law, containing a plan for a State insur- 
ance fund, and regulated by the State, through which 
employers, so minded, might insure their workmen 
against accidents. Such a plan can constitutionally be 
worked out between now and next year. 

The party platform pledges nothing less than the 
enactment of a comprehensive, equitable and practicable 
workmen's compensation law. That purpose should be 
faithfully and strictly performed. I believe that a 
measure other than the one now before me can be pre- 
pared and enacted the first part of next year, which will 
then be constitutional, if the proposed amendment is 
adopted on election day, which will retain the good 
features of this measure, and obviate all objections, and 
to the end that such an equitable law may be enacted I 
deem it my duty in the interest of those most vitally 
concerned to disapprove this bill. WM. SULZER. 



218 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XXX. 



MR. SULZER'S GREAT FIGHT TO COMPEL 
HONEST AND ABOVE-BOARD DEALINGS 
ON THE NEW YORK STOCK 
EXCHANGE. 



For a long time complaints, from one end of the coun- 
try to the other, have been made against the secret and 
underhand methods of transacting business on the New 
York Stock Exchange. The complaints became so loud 
and insistent during the administration of Governor 
Hughes that he appointed a commission to investigate the 
matter. This investigation was made, but nothing came 
of it. Wall Street would brook no interference. 

Then the House of Representatives took up the matter 
and looked into it through the Pujo Investigating Com- 
mittee. And that, too, through subterranean influences, 
came to naught. Wall Street was above the law. 

When Mr. Sulzer became Governor he made up 
his mind that he would take up the matter, and like 
various other matters he took up he pushed it to a suc- 
cessful conclusion — the ^'System," to the contrary, not- 
withstanding. It took courage to do this — but Sulzer 
never lacked courage. He does things. 

After giving the whole subject careful consideration 
lie sent to the Legislature on the 27th day of January, 
1913, the following remarkable and comprehensive mes- 
sage: 



THE GOVERNOR 219 

STATE OF NEW YORK 

Executive Chamber 

Albany, January 27, 1913. 
To the Legislature : 

A matter concerning the general welfare of our State, 
to which I desire to call the attention of the legislature 
is the subject of remedial legislation regarding stock ex- 
changes. 

These stock exchanges, as is well known, are places 
where the purchase and sale of stocks, bonds and other 
securities, as distinguished from commodities, are carried 
on and transacted. 

Illegitimate stock speculations result from improper, 
unnecessary, and fraudulent manipulations through 
matched orders, wash sales, pooling agreements, etc., 
which are no more nor less than fictitious transactions, 
and affect the public by assuming to create values where 
none exist, or values not according to the intrinsic worth 
of the securities. 

The people have a vital interest in seeing to it that 
transactions upon stock exchanges are conducted honestly 
and with due regard to the protection of the investing 
public. These transactions involve such great amounts, 
affect such a large number of the investing public, and 
are so bound up with the success of our business enter- 
prises, that the subject is one requiring careful consid- 
eration by the members of the Legislature of the greatest 
commercial State in the Union. 

Complaint of flagrant abuses led Governor Hughes, in 
December, 1908, to refer the subject for investigation to 
an official committee of eminent citizens, who submitted 
a comprehensive report thereon the following June. 

In dealing with the subject this committee recognized 
the fact that these stock exchanges are the most impor- 
tant markets in the world; that their influence upon the 



820 THE BOSS, OR 

welfare of the people of the United States cannot be over- 
estimated ; because they are the places where prices are 
made, and a ready market provided for the billions of 
dollars of corporate securities, 'constituting the invest- 
ments of perhaps a million individuals, and thousands of 
banks, savings institutions, and insurance companies. 

The report shows that the committee was convinced 
that serious abuses existed. It declared that a substan- 
tial part of the transactions in these stock exchanges were 
virtually gambling operations ; and the statements were 
conclusive that often prices of securities were grossly 
manipulated by speculators, causing material losses to the 
public and moral detriment to the people. 

While most conservative in its recommendations, this 
committee did not hesitate to condemn these evils spe- 
cifically, and to admonish the governors of the exchanges 
to take the necessary corrective measures, which, with 
their experience and the plenary powers conferred upon 
them by their rules and constitution, they could devise 
more effectively, without injury to legitimate business, 
than any other body of men ; pointing out that unless 
they did so the State would be compelled to intervene. 

These stock exchanges are an inevitable necessity. They 
cannot be destroyed without doing irreparable injury to 
business. When properly conducted they constitute an 
efficient agency for promoting industrial and commercial 
prosperity. As at present constituted, however, they are 
beyond the regulative powers of any administrative de- 
partment of the State. 

That evils requiring immediate remedy exist is beyond 
dispute. These evils are easily discovered and readily 
stated, but the remedies to be applied require deliberate 
consideration and the most delicate adjustment to meet 
the situation, so as to benefit the public at large, and at 
the same time not disturb economic and industrial con- 
ditions. 
Recently a committee of the House of Representa- 



THE GOVERNOR 221 

tives has taken cognizance of the condition, as matters 
which concerned the whole country, and has placed on 
record the testimony of some of the governors of the 
exchanges, and of other persons, which leaves no doubt 
in the minds of men of judgment that the exchanges 
have been either incapable, or unwilling, to devise 
measures that will effectively eradicate the evils. 

In view of these circumstances it is now the obvious 
duty of the State, it seems to me, to devise the remedies. 
If the State neglects to do its plain duty, the State should 
find no fault if the Federal government acts in the 
premises. 

A critical examination of the testimony adduced in the 
congressional investigation shows that the grossest of the 
evils — manipulations of prices of securities, by means of 
which the public is deceived and mulcted — are not only 
possible under the present regulations of these exchanges, 
but that they actually occur. 

It is demonstrated that the members of the exchanges 
are aware of these occurrences, but ignore them; mani- 
festing a surprising indifference to the public interest and 
to the reputation of the exchanges which is often be- 
smirched by these vicious operations. 

It is now conceded by some of the officials that a 
gambling taint is present in some of the transactions, a 
concession that confirms the general opinion. 

It has been established as a fact by the testimony that 
transactions in their nature essentially fictitious, which 
make manipulations possible, are carried on without se- 
rious attempts at restraint, on the pretense that they are 
in form in compliance with the regulations. 

Abuses of the mechanisms and violations of just and 
equitable principles of trading are treated leniently in- 
stead of being vigorously condemned and followed by 
condign punishment. 



222 THE BOSS, OR 

The testimony further shows that in cases where mem- 
bers have been punished for extreme violations of the 
rules it also indicates quite clearly that there are habitual 
evasions, undisclosed because not investigated. 

Many of the evil practices are not disclosed until the 
books of members who fail are examined ; but this has 
not led the governors to exercise their power of examina- 
tion prior to failures. 

The men who have been entrusted with the power to 
regulate the operations of these exchanges have some- 
times displayed inexcusable laxity in their duties to the 
public, frequently surprising incapacity to conduct the in- 
stitutions properly, and, again, an unwillingness to enforce 
the just and equitable principles of trade which they pro- 
fess. Since they have failed or refused to exercise the 
power to prevent such clearly vicious abuses, the authority 
of the State must be invoked to exercise that power. 

Certain of the methods of business and of the opera- 
tions conducted upon these exchanges have been the sub- 
ject of many complaints and grave criticisms. Some of 
these methods and practices merit the severest condemna- 
tion and others do not appear, upon careful examination 
of the facts, to be well founded. 

As a matter of fact it seems to me the necessary ma- 
chinery of these exchanges is often employed with im- 
punity by or through members to commit depredations 
upon the public. 

These things must be stopped. An enlightened public 
opinion demands it. An exchange in which they occur 
ceases to be a legitimate market and becomes a powerful 
mulcting instrument. 

Suffice it for me now to call to your attention certain 
suggestions that have been made looking toward imme- 
diate remedial legislation, and to submit for your con- 
sideration other subjects with a view to essential legis- 
lative acts. 



THE GOVERNOR 223 

Manipulation, 

Of the many subjects of complaint none exceeds in 
importance the grievances that arise from the subject 
of so-called stock manipulation. This manipulation is 
one of the matters about which there has been much 
public discussion. It may not be easy to define manipula- 
tion or to lay down rules that will clearly distinguish 
between justifiable and unjustifiable transactions in se- 
curities. The bringing of a stock into notice so that it 
may be a marketable security at its real value resulting 
from sales and purchase is not open to valid criticism. 

What is a subject of just criticism, however, is a con- 
certed movement artificially to raise, or depress, the 
price of a stock in order to enable those participating in 
the movement to realize a resulting speculative profit. 
Such movements in the main seem to be produced by a 
combination of men uniting together for that purpose. 

A law should be promptly enacted that will clearly dis- 
tinguish proper transactions of purchase and sale, on the 
one hand, from those on the other hand that are the re- 
sult of combinations designed to raise artificially, or to 
depress, the price of securities without regard to their 
true value, or to the real state of legitimate demand and 
supply. 

Concerted Movements to Deceive. 

It is my judgment also that where, by a combination or 
concerted movement a body of men seek to give to a stock 
an appearance of activity that does not in fact belong to 
it, for example, by selling backward and forward among 
themselves blocks of a particular stock, or by selling it out 
through one broker and at the same time buying it back 
through another, there is danger that this operation may 
mislead or deceive outside investors, the practice should 
be prohibited. 



224 THE BOSS, OR 

If operations of this character do mislead or deceive, 
and do induce outside investors to purchase stock under 
a false impression as to the extent of the demand for it 
and the nature of the market for it, a statute should be 
placed on the books forbidding such operations. 

So long as transactions are not calculated or intended 
to mislead or deceive, and do not infringe upon the rights 
of others, they should not be interfered with ; but trans- 
actions that are fraudulent in their nature and amount 
to fraudulent schemes or devices should be rigorously 
prohibited. 

I urge upon you the prompt enactment of laws to end 
these shifty schemes, and to forbid these clever combina- 
tions to catch the unwary and to mislead the public. 

Short Sales. 

The subject of so-called ''short sales" is one requiring 
your serious consideration. A contract to sell property 
which a man does not own at the time, but with which he 
can provide himself in time for the performance of his 
contract, is a general transaction throughout the various 
branches of business, and is not limited or peculiar to 
stocks or securities sold on exchanges. It is a subject 
which has been very much discussed by writers on 
financial topics, and one that has also been the subject- 
matter of legislation in this and other countries. As 
with other business transactions, it may be perverted so 
as to work an injury to the public. The best views seem 
to be that short selling in and of itself is not a wrongful 
or reprehensible thing, but it is the abuse of this' practice 
that works injury to the public. 

Your efforts in the enactment of legislation should, 
therefore, be to draw that distinction so that what will 
be condemned is the perversion of a legitimate form of 
business to improper ends. Combinations of men through 
short-selling to depress a stock artificially for the purpose 



THE GOVERNOR 225 

of buying it in to complete their short sales at an unwar- 
rantedly low price, and thereby realize a profit which is 
not the result of natural prices, but of a condition fic- 
titiously created by themselves, is the feature of the mat- 
ter which is to be condemned. 

Hypothecation of Securities. . 

The relation of a broker to his customer is one that is 
governed by the general law of the land, ancl is the same 
whether transactions on stock exchanges are involved 
or not. Their respective rights in securities which are 
bought or sold for the customer, the extent to which 
securities that have been bought for the customer partly 
on credit may be pledged by the broker for the security 
of the amount owing on them, and, generally, the recipro- 
cal rights and obligations of the broker and his prin- 
cipal, are matters which have been much considered by 
the courts and respecting wdiich rules of law have been 
and are constantly being formulated. 

But it has been the subject of just complaint that in 
the case of failures customers of the failing brokers 
have lost in whole or in part securities which had been 
purchased for them. Such losses result from a violation 
of the law governing the relations of broker and prin- 
cipal. This entire subject should receive immediate con- 
sideration at your hands, and all necessary modification 
of existing law for the protection of the investing public 
should be promptly made, and all acts productive of such 
losses, which are now merely a matter of civil liability, 
should be brought under the condemnation of the penal 
law. 

Trading Against Customers' Orders. 

Legislation should be devised which will require of 
brokers the execution of orders given them so that, 



326 THE BOSS, OR 

whether purchases or sales, they shall be purchases from 
or sales to independent persons, and so that in no case 
shall a broker employed to buy for his customer be the 
seller on his own account, or as broker of some other 
principal of his own without disclosure of the fact. If 
there are cases in which, because of the peculiarity of the 
stock and the dealings in it, a purchase cannot be made 
excepting through acquiring the stock of another prin- 
cipal of the broker, those exceptional cases should be de- 
fined with precision. 

It has been charged that there has been a practice on 
the part of some brokers of selling for their own account 
the same stocks that they have been ordered to buy for 
their customers contemporaneously with the execution of 
the orders on behalf of their customers. Such transac- 
tions, of course, amount to a virturJ bucketing by brokers 
of the orders of their customers. They come within the 
same principles that lead to the condemnation of bucket 
shops. They are obviously unjustifiable, and should be 
stringently forbidden by a clear and explicit statute on 
the subject. 

Prohibiting Brokers from Doing Business After 
Their Known Insolvency. 

One of the most widespread causes of complaint, and 
one of the most morally reprehensible practices, consists 
in a broker doing business after he has become actually 
insolvent, or knows or has reason to believe himself to 
be insolvent. Cases of great hardship upon the innocent 
investing public are due chiefly to the fact that tfie broker 
has received his customer's money when he knew he was 
insolvent. Banks are forbidden by law to receive de- 
posits after their known insolvency. Brokers should be 
subjected to a like restriction. 

I, therefore, recommend an amendment to the law, with 
appropriate penalties for its violation, forbidding a 



THE GOVERNOR 227 

broker to receive securities, or cash, from his customers, 
excepting in hquidation of, or as security for, an existing 
account; or to make fresh purchases or sales for his 
own account after he has become insolvent. The law 
should also contain a clear definition of insolvency with- 
in the meaning of the act, either analogous to the insol- 
vency provisions of the National Bankruptcy Act, or 
otherwise clearly defining such insolvency. 

More Stringent Penal Provisions Affecting 
Bucket Shops. 
Under the law of New York as it is at present it is 
necessary to establish that both parties to an ostensible 
trade in securities intended that it should be settled by 
the mere payment of differences and not by the actual 
delivery of property. It follows from this state of the 
law that the keeper of a bucket shop may escape the 
penalties now imposed by law merely by proving that 
his customer was an innocent victim and not a consent- 
ing party to the illegal transaction. I believe the Penal 
Code should be amended so that it shall be necessary 
only to show that the bucket shop keeper intended that 
there should be no actual delivery of property. 

False Statements. 

One of the most widespread of public grievances in 
connection with the purchase of stocks arises from false 
or fraudulent prospectuses, statements, or advertisements 
regarding corporate securities. Under our law as it now 
exists it is difficult to bring to justice persons who, by 
means of false and fraudulent statements, advertisements 
and promises, deceive and wrong the investing public. 
These deceiving practices have been attacked, under the 
Federal laws, forbidding the use of the mails for fraudu- 
lent purposes. 

I recommend amending the law of this State so as to 
make it a criminal offense to issue any statement, or pub- 



228 THE BOSS, OR 

lisli any advertisement as to the value of any stock or 
other security, or as to the financial condition of any cor- 
poration, or company, issuing or about to issue stock or 
securities, where any promise or prediction contained in 
such statement, or advertisement, is known to be false, or 
to be not fairly justified by existing conditions. 

Usury. 

The repealing of the exemption contained in the law 
of New York regarding interest upon call loans of 
$5,000 or over, secured by collateral, has been the sub- 
ject of much discussion. It has been charged that this 
exemption in the law regarding the rate of interest has 
facilitated over-speculation and stock gambling operation. 

But whether persons who borrow, or need to borrow, 
sums of money in amounts over $5,000, secured by col- 
lateral, for the purpose of speculation or otherwise, 
should be forbidden to pay more than six per cent, in- 
terest on their call loans, thus secured, is a serious ques- , 
tion which I commend to your careful consideration, 
and, after all the facts have been presented to you and 
the subject fully considered, should be dealt with by 
such remedial legislation as shall be deemed wise and in 
the best interests of the public welfare. 

Relations Between Exchanges. 

Complaint has been made that the restrictions placed 
by certain exchanges on the right of their members to 
act for the members of other exchanges, or fo belong to 
such exchanges, result in unfair discrimination and in- 
justice. 

The existing rules and practices in this regard should 
be carefully considered, and if these rules, in fact, or in 
their actual operation, result in injustice, or in the cur- 
tailment of honest business, or in harm to the general 



THE GOVERNOR 229 

investing public, then I recommend such remedial legis- 
lation as the facts require. 

Incorporation of Exchanges. 

It has been urged that the law be amended so as to 
require the incorporation of these stock exchanges, to 
the end that the authority of the State over the transac- 
tions upon these exchanges and the acts of their govern- 
ing bodies may be directly invoked. On the other hand, 
it has been argued with great cogency that the power 
of discipline possessed by the governing bodies of these 
exchanges over the conduct of their members, which 
can now be exercised in a summary manner, would be 
curtailed and frustrated by delays and technical ob- 
stacles which would greatly impair their just discipHn- 
ary powers, and lead to a lowering of their standards 
of business morality. 

The members of these exchanges must realize that 
many of the customs and rules now controlling them are 
antiquated and unfitted for present-day purposes, and 
they should be. desirous, in their own interest, of expe- 
ditiously adopting corrective measures that, when put 
into operation, will place the exchanges in harmony with 
the progressive spirit of the times. Every stock trans- 
action should be above board. Corporations whose se- 
curities are bought and sold on these exchanges should 
be compelled to make regular audited reports. Pub- 
licity should be the watchword. The trouble with the 
exchanges so far as the. investing public is concerned, is 
lack of confidence. It can only be restored by doing 
business straight and on the square and in the open. 

Let us go slow and not act hastily. Ill-considered leg- 
islation in regard to the purchase and sale of stocks and 
bonds might result in serious harm to the financial su- 
premacy of the State, have a tendency to drive capital 
away from New York, and might disorganize the large 



230 THE BOSS, OR 

operations of legitimate business now centered in this 
State, to the detriment of its citizens and the common- 
wealth generally. 

Great care should be taken, therefore, in the consider- 
ation and enactment of just laws which, if wisely drawn, 
will protect the investing public, promote publicity, safe- 
guard the rights of the people, restore confidence, and 
facilitate our business prosperity, but which, if incon- 
siderately enacted, may result in a serious disorganiza- 
tion of general business. 

WM. SULZER. 

After sending the foregoing message to the Legisla- 
ture, Air. Sulzer prepared, and had introduced, in the 
Legislature eleven bills to carry into effect the recom- 
mendations contained in the message. 

Wall Street fought most of these bills tooth and nail — 
but the Governor, after a persistent fight, passed them, 
signed them, and wrote these beneficent laws on the 
statute books. 

The gamblers in Wall Street were furious. They de- 
nounced the Governor and plotted his ruin. When the 
time came, it is known, they aided Murphy in every way 
they could — openly and secretly — to remove Governor 
Sulzer. 

Every recommendation made in that message. Gov- 
ernor Sulzer finally succeeded, after an heroic fight, in 
writing upon the Statute Books of the State. In doing 
this he aroused the hatred, and the enmity, and the 
bitter antipathy of influential Wall Street gamblers. They 
aided Mr. Murphy and the system, and the railroads 
and the big corporations, in doing whatever could be done 
to get William Sulzer out of oftice. 

As a prominent member of the Exchange said: ''Sulzer 
made Wall Street eat out of his hand; but Wall Street 
had its revenge." 



THE GOVERNOR 231 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

GOVERNOR SULZER FRUSTRATES THE AT- 
TEMPT, THROUGH THE McKEE PUBLlL" 
SCHOOL BILLS, OE INJECTING RELIGION 
IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE CITY OF 
NEW YORK. 

Those who give such matters attention are aware of 
the persistent efforts of a religious organization closely 
associated with Tammany to either gain control of the 
public schools of Greater New York, or destroy them — 
and all in the interest of the Parocliial Schools. 

These efforts, of course, have been secret and under- 
handed. The Legislature of the State of New York 
in the year of 1913 was largely dominated and con- 
trolled by this religious organization. More than a ma- 
jority belonged to that religious organization. 

This order, and those inimical to our free public 
schools, believed that the time had come at last when 
they could gain control, or strike a deadly blow at the 
public schools. To this end several bills were carefully 
and cleverly prepared and introduced in the Legislature 
by Assemblyman McKee. They were quietly put through 
with little discussion and no consideration. They came 
to Governor Sulzer, and THE AGENTS OF THIS 
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION BROUGHT GREAT 
PRESSURE TO BEAR UPON HIM TO APPROVE 
THEM. THE GOVERNOR BRAVELY REFUSED 
TO DO SO. 

There is a great story behind all this, and some day 
it will come out. Many know the facts. Those who 
know, realize that Mr. Sulzer's refusal to approve the 
McKee School Bills arrayed against him the power of 



232 THE BOSS, OR 

this religious organization, and was one of the reasons 
for his removal from office ; but nothing will stand out 
to the credit of William Sulzer so much as his patriotic 
refusal to attach his signature to these infamous McKee 
Public School Bills, that would have taken our common 
schools out of non-religious and non-political channels, 
where they have worked so much good, for the past 
one hundred years, and placed them within the man- 
ipulation of the agents of a religious organization, which 
is seeking, more and more, to gain control of our public 
schools. 

All honor to Wm. Sulzer — a brave man — but more — 
a true American. 

When Governor Sulzer was told that if he did not sign 
the McKee bills it would end his political career, Mr. 
Sulzer replied: 

"I am an American; and before I write my name to 
a bill to injure our public schools I will chop off my 
hand." 



THE GOVERNOR 333 



CHAPTER XXXn. 

MR. SULZER'S SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO RE- 
PEAL THE NOTORIOUS CHARTER OF THE 
LONG SAULT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY. 

During the closing days of Governor Hughes' admin- 
istration there was lobbyed through the Legislature an 
iniquitous bill granting a charter to ''The Long Sault 
Development Company," giving that corporation prac- 
tically all the tremendous water power rights of the 
State of New York, on the Long Sault, in the St. Law- 
rence River — water power rights in the estimation of 
experts greater than any in America, and the most valu- 
able asset of the State, so far as its natural resources 
are concerned. 

Many stories are told how the lobbyists, and the ac- 
celerators of monopolistic legislation, got through this 
charter and finally hoodwinked Governor Hughes into 
approving it. We have not the space to go into that 
story, but suffice it to say that it is a black page in the 
legislative history of the State, and its ultimate con- 
summation meant fabulous riches — beyond the dreams 
of avarice — to the men interested in the gigantic scheme. 

It is claimed that this Charter had the financial as- 
sistance of the Great Aluminum Trust of America, and 
behind it were the millions of the House of Morgan. 
The franchise was said to be worth ten billions 
OF dollars. 

Mr. Sulzer is a true conservationist, and was one of 
the earliest statesmen of our country to see the value to 
the people of its natural resources, and to demand that 
they be conserved and utilized for the benefit of all the 
people. 



234 THE BOSS, OR 

When Mr. Sulzer became Governor he looked into 
the unsavory story of the Long Sault charter. He 
knew something of it from his experience as a legis- 
lator in Washington. He concluded that the thing 
for the State of New York to do was to repeal this 
charter, and to get back this great water power, suf- 
ficient, according to experts, to give the people of the 
State of New York for a thousand years to come all 
the heat, and all the power, and all the light they will 
require. 

Mr. Sulzer knew that if he could restore to the people 
this right, which had been taken away from them dur 
ing the Hughes Administration, he would do more for 
the future welfare of the people of New York than 
could be done by any other single thing that he could 
accomplish during his administration. So he sent to the 
Legislature the following message on the subject matter: 

STATE OF NEW YORK 
Executive Chamber 

Albany, January 13, 1913. 
To THE Legislature : 

In my recent message I recommended for your careful 
consideration, the conservation of the natural resources 
of the State, and their development and utilization for 
the benefit of all the people. 

We are the trustees of future generations. We must 
protect and preserve the rights of those who come aftci* 
us. We should be true to our trust. This is the duty 
of the day, and the real solution of the problem of con- 
servation. 

The State of New York, in my opinion, is now com- 
mitted to the policy of conserving its natural resources, 
and particularly of developing our vast water powers, 
so that they may be of benefit to all the people of the 
State. 

In this connection, I decire to call your attention to 



THE GOVERNOR 235 

the unconstitutionality of a charter which was attempted 
to be granted by the Legislature of 1907 to the Long 
Sault Development Company by chapter 355 of the Laws 
of 1907. 

I am of the opinion that said act is unconstitutional 
and void for the following reasons: 

1. That the act in question contravenes section 18 of 
article 3 of the State Constitution, which provides that 
the Legislature shall not pass a private or local bill 
granting to any private corporation, association, or indi- 
vidual any exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise 
whatever. This bill is private and local and grants an 
exclusive privilege, as contemplated by section 18 of 
article 3 of the Constitution. 

2. It violates section 7 of article 7 of the State Con- 
stitution, which provides that the lands of the State 
now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the For- 
est Preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept 
as wild forest land, and shall not be leased, sold or 
exchanged or taken by any corporation, public or pri- 
vate. 

The bed of the St. Lawrence river which, by the act 
in question, is directed to be conveyed to the Long Sault 
Development Company, is owned by the State and was 
so owned at the time the provision of the Constitution 
was adopted, and was included within the Forest Pre- 
serve, as defined by section 100 of chapter 332 of the 
Laws of 1893, describing the lands included within the 
State Forest Preserve. 

3. The act in question is a private bill and embraces 
more than one subject, and is, therefore, in violation 
of article 3, section 16 of the State Constitution which 
provides that no private or local bill which may be 
passed by the Legislature shall embrace more than one 
subject, and that shall be expressed in its title. 

The citizens of New York have no idea, and will never 
know, how hard Governor Sulzer worked to get back for 



236 THE BOSS, OR 

them this great water power. They will never know 
about the threats the friends of this monopoly made to 
the Governor. They will never know of the subtle at- 
tempts which were made to influence him. They will 
never know the secret and powerful enemies the Gov- 
ernor made in the struggle he kept up to repeal the Long 
Sault charter. 

Sulzer won the fight for the people. Sulzer saved 
untold billions of wealth for the State. Yes, that is all 
true — but Sulzer sacrificed himself in the struggle to 
the hatred and the enmity of the Special Interests and 
the System. And when the time came they all com- 
bined to help Murphy oust him from office. The news- 
papers that aided in the conspiracy know all about it — 
but they will never tell. Some day an honest historian 
will dig up all the facts and tell the truth about the 
matter. 



THE GOVERNOR 237 



CHAPTER XXXni / 

MR. SULZER'S GREAT FIGHT FOR HONEST 
AND DIRECT PRIMARIES. 

In all the history of America no Governor ever made 
a better fight for a great reform than Mr. Sulzer made 
for honest and genuine Direct Primaries. 

In his first message to the Legislature Mr. Sulzer said 
regarding Direct Primaries : 

*'We are pledged to Genuine Direct Primaries, State- 
wide in their scope and character, and I urge the im- 
mediate adoption of such amendments to the existing pri- 
mary law as will make complete and effective the Direct 
Primary system of the State." 

During the early weeks of his administration, Gov- 
ernor Sulzer urged Republicans and Democrats in the 
Legislature to get together and pass an honest and a 
genuine direct priniary bill, State-wide in its scope and 
character, in accordance with the promises of the po- 
litical parties, and he gave them his own ideas and views 
as to what amendments the voters wanted in that con- 
nection. The members of the Legislature listened to the 
Governor and dilly-dallied with the matter. Nothing was 
done. 

The Governor knew, of course, that the Bosses 
were against genuine direct primaries, and that whatever 
was finally accomplished would have to be accomplished 
through a fight. The Governor wanted to put off the 
fight as long as possible. He was anxious to avoid an 
open fight with the Bosses until he had put through the 
Legislature certain other reforms he was advocating, 
and most anxious to write upon the Statute Books. 

Now and then certain newspapers urged the Gov- 



238 THE BOSS, OR 

ernor to fight for direct primaries, and hardly a day 
passed that friends of this reform did not come to Al- 
bany and urge the Governor to send a Special Message 
to the Legislature outlining exactly what the Governor 
thought should be done to give the voters of the State 
a real direct Primary Law. 

The Governor advised these newspapers, and these 
well intentioned citizens to be patient. ''The fight will 
come soon enough," he would say. "When it does come 
I trust the newspapers and the citizens who are urging 
me, day in and day out, to fight will stay with me in the 
fight, and not run away." He told them that he was 
more in favor of a real direct primary law than any other 
man in the State, and that sooner or later the voters 
would get it, but that they would only get it through a 
hard fight; that he was going along the lines of least 
resistance, and was anxious to get through certain other 
reform legislation, in the interest of the general welfare, 
before he would begin his direct primary fight. He 
moved forward, however, slowly but surely in the strug- 
gle. 

The Governor learned the leaders in the Legislature in- 
tended to do nothing to amend the Primary Law, and 
were getting ready to adjourn in May. Then he wrote 
and sent to the Legislature the following clear and con- 
cise special message for a simpler and shorter ballot and 
for direct State-wide primaries. 

STATE OF NEW YORK 
Executive Chamber 

Albany, April 10, 1913. 
To THE Legislature: 

As the legislative session is drawing to a close, I deem 
it my duty, in the interest of the general welfare, to 
again call your attention to the insistent demands of the 
voters, throughout the State, for a more simple and 
shorter ballot ; and for direct State-wide primaries. 

To that end I renew my recommendations that the 



THE GOVERNOR 239 

Legislature take up these very important questions with- 
out further delay, and pass bills ere the adjournment 
for their accomplishment. 

The Democratic party in convention assembled, at 
Syracuse, adopted the following plank as a part of its 
platform : 

"The Democratic party was the first to recog- 
nize the demand for a State-wide direct primary. 
We again declare in favor of the principle of the di- 
rect primary, and we pledge our members of the 
Legislature to adopt such amendments to the exist- 
ing laws as will perfect the direct primary system." 
The Progressive party in its convention, last fall, 
adopted the following plank as a part of its platform: 
"We pledge the enactment of a real direct pri- 
mary law applicable to every elective office. 
The Republican party in its convention, last year, 
adopted the following plank as a part of its platform: 
"We favor the short ballot and the direct nomina- 
tion of party candidates. 
4. The Act is invalid as being in excess of the powers 
of the Legislature, in that it provides for the aliena- 
tion by the State to the Long Sault Development Com- 
pany of title to the land in the bed of the St. Lawrence 
river. The title of the State in those lands is a sov- 
ereign right, rather than a proprietary title. It is in- 
consistent with that right, which must be exercised for 
the benefit of the whole people, that the title to the bed 
of a navigable stream should be granted in fee to a pri- 
vate corporation. 

The vast water power available in the Long Sault 
constitutes one of the State's greatest natural resources. 
The advances in the art of electrical transmission makes 
it economically feasible to use the power throughout the 
State. At present it is going to waste. It is for the 
interest of all that this power should be developed and 
utilized by the people and for the people. Cheap power 



240 THE BOSS, OR 

will enlarge the use of electricity for domestic and 
commercial purposes ; stimulate industry ; increase our 
wealth and add to our population. Private interests 
should not be allowed to exploit and monopolize the 
same. The State should develop this power for the 
benefit of the ultimate consumer. 

Investigations made by the engineers of the State 
demonstrate, among other things, that a full economic 
development at the Long Sault rapids will produce one 
million (1,000,000) horsepower, of which, by treaty ar- 
rangement with Canada, it is to be expected that New 
York will receive no less than one-half. It is hard to 
conceive of the vastness of five hundred thousand (500,- 
000) horsepower, transmuted into electrical energy. It 
is nearly three-quarters of the sum total of all the water 
powers now developed in New York State, including 
that at Niagara. It is estimated to be almost sufficient 
to run all the industries of our State which are now 
operated by steam power, exclusive of steam railways, 
but inclusive of electric railways. These two facts may 
help to show the importance of this vast power to the 
industrial welfare of our State. 

At present it is reported as practicable to transmit 
power from the Long Sault Rapids to New York city 
for steady, continuous loads much cheaper than such 
loads can now be carried with steam power. This will 
inevitably result in a great saving to the consumer, and 
be of inestimable value to the State. 

In order that we secure for all our citizens the many 
and the lasting beneficial results of the proper develop- 
ment of our natural resources, particularly of our now 
unused water powers, in accordance with our construc- 
tive policy in these matters, to which our State now 
stands committed, I recommend that chapter 355 of the 
Laws of 1907 — the Long Sault Development Company's 
charter — be immediately repealed. * 

WM. SULZER. 



THE GOVERNOR 241 

STATE OF NEW YORK 
Executive Chamber 

Albany, May 8, 1913. 

Memorandum filed with Senate Bill, Printed No. 110, 
entitled : 

"An act to repeal the Charter of the Long Sault 
Development Company. 
Approved 

Concerning this bill I sent a special message to the 
Legislature, dated January 13, 1913, calling the atten- 
tion of the Legislature to the fact that chapter 355 of 
the laws of 1907, which purported to grant a charter to 
this company was, without doubt, unconstitutional, and 
demanding its repeal for the best interests of the State. 

This charter, granted by the Legislature to the Long 
Sault Development Company, was not only violative 
of the State Constitution, but its provisions were in 
other respects improvident, unwise and indefensible, 
both from an industrial and an economical point of 
view. 

The repeal of the charter by this bill, to which I 
now give my approval, will secure to all our citizens 
the beneficial results of the proper development of our 
natural resources particularly of our most important un- 
used water powers, in accordance with the constructive 
policy of real conservation to which the State of New 
York now stands committed. 

WM. SULZER. 

It is thus apparent that the leading political parties in 
our State are irrevocably committed to this salutary 
reform. As a matter of fact, all the members of the 
Legislature are bound by these pledges, and will be false 
to their promises unless legislation is enacted at this 
session for a State-wide direct primary. 

Believing as I do in these reforms I renew my recom- 
mendations, and unhesitatingly af^rm that nothing will 
gratify me more than to be able to attach my signature 



242 THE BOSS, OR 

10 bills that will give the people of the State the best 
election laws, and the most complete direct primary law, 
possessed by any State m the Union, 

It is my opinion that the voters of the State are in 
favor of nominating all candidates for elective office 
from Governor down to constable. The primary law 
should be as simple, and as honest, and as practicable, as 
legislation can make it. Every safeguard now thrown 
around the ballot box on election day should be invoked 
to protect the ballot box on primary day. 

The electors can rely on me to favor these changes 
in our election laws as I shall every other reform to 
restore the government of the people to the people. 
I have always claimed that the people can be trusted 
to conduct their government, and were just as capable 
of nominating candidates for office as they were of 
electing candidates to office. In a government such as 
ours we must rely on the people, and we should legis- 
late in their interest and to promote their welfare. 

I know that the voters believe that if they are qualified 
to choose by their votes on election day governors, 
judges, senators and congressmen, they are also compe- 
tent on primary day to nominate all of them, and I there- 
fore urge the speedy enactment of legislation that will 
make every candidate for public office the choice of the 
enrolled voters. 

If it is wise to trust the people with the power to 
nominate some public officers, I am sure it is wise to 
trust them with the power to nominate all public offi- 
cers. I believe it is as wise to trust them to nominate 
a Governor as to trust them to nominate a constable, 
and as wise to trust them to nominate a Judge of the 
Court of Appeals as to trust them to nominate a jus- 
tice of the peace. 

The people have been given. this power in many othe" 
States and they have used it to bring about greatly im- 
proved conditions. Let the Empire State put itself in 



THE GOVERNOR 243 

line with the foremost States in all the Union, by favor- 
ing nominations by the people, for thus only can we 
secure a government of the people. 

While the main defect in our primary laws is that we 
have not made it applicable to State officers yet there 
are other defects that we should remedy. Primary 
ballots in some districts in New York city have been 
from eleven to fourteen feet in length, and a law plac- 
ing before an elector on primary day such a ballot as 
this deserves the ridicule it has received. As long as As- 
sembly districts are made the unit of representation 
such ballots will be possible, and I recommend that elec- 
tion districts instead of Assembly districts shall be made 
the unit of representation. 

I also recommend the abolition of all committee 
designations ; the prohibition of the party emblem on 
primary ballots ; the removal of the party circle from 
the primary ballots; the prohibition of the use of party 
funds at primary elections ; and of the establishment 
of a State committee membership of one hundred and 
fifty — or one for each Assembly district. 

I further recommend reducing the number of names 
required on a nominating certificate; the authorization 
of registration on primary day; and a proper limita- 
tion of the amount that may be expended by any candid 
date for the purpose of securing a nomination. The 
law should also prescribe the expenses which may be 
lawfully incurred in connection with candidacies for 
nomination, and should insure the publicity of all ex- 
penses. 

The enactment of these regulations into law will, I 
am confident, permit the voters of the State to con- 
struct political organizations from the bottom upwards, 
instead of permitting them to be constructed from the 
top downwards. The power which controls organiza- 
tions is usually the power that controls nominations, 



244 THE BOSS, OR 

and the power which controls nominations is the power 
which controls public officials. 

How vitally important, therefore, that this power 
should be wielded by the many and not by the few. 
The changes which I advocate in our primary law are 
in harmony with the spirit of the times and of demo- 
cratic institutions. They aim to restore to the voters 
rights and privileges which have been usurped by the 
few, for the benefit of invisible interests which aim to 
control governmental officials, to pass laws, to prevent 
the passage of other laws, and to violate laws with im- 
punity. To these invisible powers I am now, always 
have been, and always will be opposed. 

No government can be free that does not allow all its 
citizens to participate in the formation and execution 
of its laws. Every other government is a form of des- 
potism. The political history of recent years illustrates 
the truth that under the forms of democratic government 
popular control may be destroyed, and corrupt influences, 
through political organization, establish a veritable des- 
potism. 

That popular government, under God, shall be resur- 
rected and made actual, the Legislature of this State 
is urged to carry forward the work of reforming our 
election and primary laws, so that in matters political 
every man shall count for one and no man shall count 
for more than one. 

WM. SULZER. 

The "marionettes" of the Bosses in the Assembly and 
the Senate gave little heed to this statesmanlike recom- 
mendation. Toward the end of the legislative session, 
however, the ''Creatures'* of the ''Bosses" in the Legis- 
lature got together and sent the Governor the notorious 
Blauvelt bill, and the Bosses demanded that the Gov- 
ernor sign it. 

When this bill came before the Governor, he knew that 



THE GOVERNOR 245 

the time had come for him to take a decided stand in 
this important matter, and let the Legislature, the 
Bosses, and the voters know exactly where he stood, and 
what he intended to do. He immediately vetoed the 
Blauvelt bill in the following caustic and pungent veto 
message : 



246 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

SULZER'S RINGING VETO OF THE FAKE 
PRIMARY BILL. 

STATE OF NEW YORK 
Executive Chamber 

Albany, April 24, 1913. 
To THE Senate: 

I herewith return, without my approval, Senate Bill, 
Printed No. 2110, entitled: 

''An act to amend the election law, generally." 

This bill claims to be the fulfillment of the pledges 
of the last Democratic, Republican and Progressive 
State platforms, and purports to change and perfect 
the existing Primary and Election Laws, in establish- 
ing genuine, State-wide direct primaries for all can- 
didates to be elected by the people. 

As a matter of fact, the bill is a fraud, and does 
nothing of the kind. 

Let me state that I have given careful examination 
and much consideration to the amendments contained 
in this bill. It is my conclusion, as I believe it must 
be the conviction of any fair-minded man who will 
examine this measure, tfiat the slight amendments made 
to the existing laws are mere patchwork, changing only 
a few minor details that clearly demonstrate a design 
to tinker with a grave subject, by way of subterfuge, in 
order to deceive the voters. 

These amendments will accomplish no honest reform, 
and would read like an amusing farce, if it were not 
for the fact that the members of the present Legisla- 
ture, who sanctioned its enactment, are irrevocably 



THE GOV'ERNOR 247 

pledged and bound by the highest moral and political 
obligations to pass an honest and a genuine State-wide 
Direct Primary Law. 

Hence, in the light of all we know concerning this 
measure, it must be branded as enacted in bad faith ; 
wholly fraudulent, and a glaring breach of the pledged 
faith of every member of the Legislature. There is 
no escape from this conclusion. 

This measure is a fraud on the electors of our State; 
and is in no sense a real and an honest State-wide 
Direct Primary Law ; nor can it conceivably be said, 
from any point of view, to fulfill the pledges in the 
State platforms of the respective political parties in 
our commonwealth. 

Among the many shortcomings of the bill, it may be 
pointed out that it does not extend the system of di- 
rect nominations in any way. The reduction of the 
stipulated number of signatures for independent nomi- 
nations to a minimum of 5 per cent, of the votes for 
Governor in a political unit would actually compel an 
independent candidate, in many districts in New York 
city, for example, to obtain a greater number of signa- 
tures to his petition than are necessary under the pres- 
ent law. 

The bill does not abolish the organization column, on 
the primary ballot, and the use of the party emblem. 
The suggested change in the style of ballot is not a 
change at all in the system of committee representa- 
tion, and necessarily the primary ballots, particularly 
in New York city, will continue to reach the ridiculous 
and scandalous length of fourteen or more feet. 

It leaves in the present law the provision for State 
conventions ; the designation of candidates by political 
committees ; the use of the party emblem by the organ- 
ization committees ; and the possibility of voting the 
whole ticket by placing a cross in the circle. These 
are impediments to genuine reform in our election and 



248 THE BOSS, OR 

primary laws, which the citizens have the right to ex- 
pect their representatives in the present Legislature to 
eradicate and to abolish. 

The amendments contained in the bill concerning the 
reduction of the number of registration days in the 
county from four to two; the limitation of the num- 
ber of election commissioners in a county to two ; and 
the reduction of the number of signers in some cases 
to independent petitions are satisfactory, so far as they 
go, but these possibly good features are all contained in 
the State-wide Direct Primary Bill, which I caused to 
be prepared, and to be introduced, for the consideration 
of the present Legislature after I became thoroughly 
convinced that the members of the Senate and the As- 
sembly did not intend to redeem, in this manner, their 
pledges to the people. 

As I have frequently said before, and which I de- 
sire now to reiterate with the greatest possible sincerity 
and earnestness, every member of the present Legisla- 
ture is bound by the highest moral and political obliga- 
tions to vote for a genuine, honest and real "State- 
wide" direct primary law, that will permit the voters 
of the State to construct and control political organiza- 
tions from the bottom upward, instead of permitting 
them to be constructed and controlled, as at present, 
from the top downward. It must be done, or we will 
stand convicted of deliberately getting office under false 
pretences. 

The record will show that for years I have been a 
consistent advocate of genuine direct primaries, and I 
firmly believe that the enactment into law of a State- 
wide direct primary bill, along the lines of the measure 
I have caused to be prepared, and to be introduced in 
the Legislature, will accomplish what the voters desire, 
and reflect greater credit on the members of the pres- 
ent Legislature than the passage of any other act that 
can, or will be presented, for the consideration of its 



THE GOVERNOR 24d 

members this year. There should be no adjournment 
until this is done. Let us be honest with the voters 
and keep our pledges to the people. At all events, as 
the Governor, I shall, and if the Legislature does not, 
I want the voters to know the reason why. 

When we consider the waste, the extravagance, the 
inefficiency, and the corruption which have recently been 
brought to light in connection with the administration 
of public affairs in our State, and which are the cause 
of painful humiliation to every thoughtful .md patriotic 
citizen, all due, in no small degree, to the fact that in 
recent years political power has been gradually slip- 
ping away from the people who should always control 
it and wield it, there can be no doubt as to the neces- 
sity of this legislation and as to our duty in this all 
important matter. 

Every intelligent citizen is aware that those who sub- 
vert free government to their personal advantage have 
their greatest opportunities to do so through the adroit 
and skilful manipulation of our system of party caucuses 
and political conventions. We have been given leader- 
ship dishonorable to the various political parties of the 
State, and we have been given party tickets which re- 
flect this dishonorable leadership in disgraceful secret 
alliances between big business interests and crooked and 
corrupt politics. It must cease or our free institutions 
are doomed. 

The honest citizens of our State for years have de- 
manded an end to these shameful conditions. They 
now insist on primary reform, thoroughgoing and radi- 
cal; direct and complete, and I would be unfaithful to 
these salutary demands of the people of this State, and 
to the pledges of the political platform of my own 
party, if I were to give my official approval to this bill, 
which while it might do something to improve our pri- 
mary law, goes such a short distance in the right direc- 



250 THE BOSS, OR 

tion that it would seem like giving a stone to the voters 
when the people are asking for bread. 

If we fail to make our system of direct primaries 
apply to State offices, we have left off our work of pri- 
mary reform where the people expected us to begin. 
The widespread demand for direct primaries in our State 
found its origin mainly in the dissatisfaction arising from 
the failure of our State conventions to faithfully reflect 
the sentiments of the party voters. Every student of 
our recent political history knows this, and no one knows 
it better than I do. 

In withholding Executive approval of this bill I am 
prompted by the hope and the confidence that the Legis- 
lature, ere it adjourns, will sincerely redeem the prom- 
ises regarding State-wide Direct Primaries of the polit- 
ical platforms of the Democratic, the Republican and the 
Progressive parties. In my judgment this must be done. 
The Democratic platforms adopted in the last two State 
conventions are explicit declarations for a "State-wide" 
direct primary. There can be no "State-wide" direct 
primary that does not apply to all State offices. Who 
can successfully deny this? 

Any proposition less than this begs the whole ques- 
tion, and violates the pledged faith of all the parties 
to every voter in the State. I am now, and always 
have been, and always will be in favor of carrying out 
our platform pledges to the letter. The best way to 
strengthen a political party is to keep the faith. I want 
to restore to the people of the State the complete control 
of their State government ; to afford the voters of the 
State the freest expression of their choice of candidates 
for public office ; and I believe that my pending "State- 
wide" Direct Primary Bill embraces an honest, a sin- 
cere, a comprehensive, and a practical plan for these 
accomplishments. 

Besides, I consider that my "State-wide" Direct Pri- 
mary Bill is an absolutely non-partisan measure, which 



THE GOVERNOR 251 

faithfully reproduces, and will carry into practice, the 
pledges of the three great political parties concerned ix- 
the last State election ; and that, on its merits, it will meet 
the approval and have the support and the backing of a 
large majority of all the citizens of this State; and I am 
convinced that every member of this Legislature is 
solemnly bound in honor by the highest moral and po- 
litical obligations to vote for its enactment; and those 
who fail to do so will be forced to yield to public opin- 
ion and be replaced by others who will vote to give 
the State an efficient State-wide direct primary law, that 
will embrace every office, from Governor down to con- 
stable. 

It is unnecessary for me, or any other man, to say 
that in continuing the delegate system in nominating 
State officers, electors are not allowed to nominate di- 
rectly. In continuing the delegate system we are, there- 
fore, ignoring and repudiating our platform pledges and 
betraying the people with false pretences. I shall not be 
a party to such a repudiation; I shall not endorse such 
a betrayal of the people. No political party can make 

me a political hypocrite. 

WM. SULZER. 

That burning veto made the bosses, and their min- 
ions in the Legislature sit up and take notice — but they 
did nothing else — and the Legislature finally adjourned 
on May 3, 1913. 

When the Legislature quit without doing anything for 
genuine direct primaries, the Governor said, *'he had just 
begun to fight for the reform," and would summon the 
members back in extraordinary session to give the people 
a real Direct Primary Law. 

Many friends advised the Governor not to call an 
extra session of the Legislature for direct primaries— 
they feared if the Governor did— the bosses would still 
control the members and instead of getting direct pri- 



252 THE BOSS, OR 

maries — the bosses, mad and exasperated, and aided 
by the corrupt system, would attempt to get rid of the 
Governor. 

Wm. Sulzer, however, was in the fight. He had gone 
into it slowly — but once in he would not turn back — 
no matter about consequences — so long as the cause was 
just. 

He crossed the Rubicon — and called the extra ses- 
sion for June 16, 1913. The Bosses, and their wax 
figures, were furious. They swore vengeance against 
the Governor. Wm. Sulzer laughed at them, and went 
on with the fight. He cleaned up the work of the Execu- 
tive Chamber, and made a tour of the State, delivering 
about fifty speeches for real direct primaries. A f w 
of these speeches follow, and show their purport and 
trend. 



THE GOVERNOR 258 



CHAPTER XXXV 

"WHY I AM FOR DIRECT PRIMARIES." 

Speech of Governor Sulzer at the Auditorium in 
Buffalo, Monday Night, May 19, 1913. 

Mr. Sulzer said: 

"It is self-evident to me that if the people are com- 
petent to directly elect their public officials they are also 
competent to directly nominate these officials. 

"If it is important for minor officers to be nominated 
by the people, it is still more important that the people 
be given the power to nominate candidates for United 
States Senator and for Governor. That if public ser- 
vice corporations and special interests seek to control 
public affairs for the promotion of their selfish ends 
through the manipulation of party conventions, the plain 
people should seek to do the same thing by taking in 
their own hands the right to nominate directly these 
important officials. 

"The truth is that the delegate system of nominating 
officers has completely broken down, and proven itself 
not only inadequate to carry out the wishes of the 
people, but it has become an instrumentality through 
which the powers of government are prostituted and 
brought under the dominion of unscrupulous men seek- 
ing special privileges. 

"In this campaign for direct primaries, I am appeal- 
ing to the voters, and they are responding, as they 
always will respond when their rights are jeopardized 
and their liberties are subverted, and they hear 



254 THE BOSS, OR 

the call of duty and see the opportunity to assert ef- 
fectually their inherent power and inalienable rights.. 

"From every farm, and hamlet, and town, and city 
come voices declaring that the time has arrived to dis- 
solve the political bonds by which the few have en- 
thralled the many by skilful, secret and disgraceful 
manipulations of party conventions, and to establish 
state-wide direct primaries, abolishing state conventions, 
as they already have been abolished in two-thirds of 
the States which form this Union. 

"Every day I see accumulating: evidence of the truth, 
which I stated in my recent direct-primary message to 
the Legislature, that those who would subvert the 
powers of government to personal advantage and to 
special privilege find their greatest opportunities to carry 
on this nefarious work through the skilful manipula- 
tions of political conventions. 

"Political conventions must go. Disgraceful secret 
alliances between special privilege and crooked politics 
must cease. That is all there is to it. 

"The power of Invisible Government is greater in New 
York than in any other State, because in New York 
are centered the great financial interests of the nation. 
Most of these interests are sound, legitimate and honest, 
but some of these interests are illegitimate, and it is 
the last mentioned kind which are fighting the salutary 
reforms which I am advocating — reforms which will 
faithfully carry out the letter and spirit of the political 
platforms of every party in this State. 

"The spirit of true democracy is summed uj> in the 
slogan 'Let the people rule.' They cannot rule until they 
obtain a successful method of nominating the candi- 
dates of all political parties. 

"New York State is one of the last States in the 
Union to capitulate to the present-day demand for popu- 
lar rule in the nomination of candidates for all public 



THE GOVERNOR 355 

offices. It is bound to come in New York. The fight 
is on, and the people are in earnest. 

"The power of special privilege is making its last 
stand in our State, but will be overthrown, and over- 
thrown speedily, by a righteous public sentiment. 

"To have direct primaries and to have state con- 
ventions is impossible. Direct primaries have been de- 
vised to permit the people to nominate their officers 
without the intermediary of delegates, and as, of course, 
you cannot have state conventions without delegates, it 
follows that state conventions must go and honest direct 
primaries must come. There is no middle ground. There 
can be no compromise. Those who want to straddle 
are against us. You cannot compromise a principle. 

"The widespread demand for direct primaries origin- 
ated mainly from the scandalous failure of state con- 
ventions to faithfully reflect the sentiment of the voters. 
Again and again candidates having strong support in 
state conventions have been set aside and the bosses have 
brought forward at the last moment a dark-horse candi- 
date and secured his nomination through skilful political 
manipulations. 

"The Democratic party, in the State of New York, 
in its last state convention, declared in emphatic terms 
for direct primaries. 

"1 believe it is my duty, as the Governor, elected on 
that platform, to do everything in my power to carry out 
this solemn pledge. Every Democrat in the State elected 
on that platform should uphold my efforts to redeem 
the pledge and keep faith with the voters. 

"So far as I am concerned there will be no step back- 
ward. I am in the fight to stay and to the end. Hence 
I urge every honest Democrat in the State who believes 
in fair play, who wants to keep good faith, and who 
favors redeeming solemn party promises to aid me in 
the struggle. 

"We will win in the end. The leading newspapers 



256 THE BOSS, OR 

of the State; seven-tenths of the voters of the State, 
regardless of party affiHations ; and the overwhelming 
popular sentiment of tlie people, are behind the cause 
for direct primaries and state-wide at that. 

''1 am now, and always have been, and always will be 
in favor of carrying out our platform pledges to the 
letter. The best way to strengthen a political party 
is to keep the faith. I want to restore to the people of 
the State the complete control of their State govern- 
ment to afford the voters of the State the freest expres- 
sion of their choice of candidates for public office; and 
I believe that our 'state-wide' direct primary bill em- 
braces an honest, a sincere, a comprehensive and a prac- 
tical plan for these accomplishments. 

"Besides, I consider that our 'state-wide' direct pri- 
mary bill is an absolutely non-partisan measure, which 
faithfully reproduces and will substantially carry into 
practice, the pledges of the three great political parties 
concerned in the last State election ; and that, on its 
merits, it will meet the approval and have the support 
and the backing of a large majority of all the citizens of 
this State. 

"I am convinced that every member of the Legislature 
is solemnly bound in honor, and by the highest moral and 
political obligations, to vote for its enactment ; and those 
who fail to do so will be forced to yield to public opin- 
ion and be replaced by others who will vote to give the 
State an efficient State-wide Direct Primary Law, that 
will embrace every office, from Governor down to con- 
stable. 

''Is it necessary for me, or any other man, to say that 
in continuing the delegate system in nominating State 
officers, electors are not allowed to nominate directly? 
In continuing the delegate system, we are therefore ig- 
noring and repudiating our platform pledges and betray- 
ing the people with false pretenses. I shall not be a 
party to such repudiation. I shall not endorse such a 



THE GOVERNOR 257 

betrayal of the people. No political party can make me 
a political hypocrite. 

"The Democratic candidates promised the people in 
the last campaign that if we were successful, we would 
give them — among other things — a State-wide Direct 
Primary Law. 

"I ran for the Governorship on the platform of the 
Syracuse convention. I helped to write that platform, 
and after I was nominated I stood on it throughout the 
campaign — squarely and honestly. 

"At the request of my party I made a campaign 
through the State. They tell me I made more speeches 
and spoke to more people during the contest, than 
any other candidate in all the history of the State. 
I told the people that if I were elected I would do 
everything in my power to carry out the pledges of my 
party as enunciated in the Syracuse platform. Many, 
doubted the sincerity of these campaign speeches ; but 
there was one man who never doubted their sincerity, 
and that is the man who is now the Governor of the 
State. 

"When I cannot be honest in politics, I shall get out 
of politics. I believe honesty in politics will succeed, 
just the same as I know honesty in business will suc- 
ceed. If anyone doubts that, all he has to do is to con- 
sider what has been accomplished in this country during 
the past quarter of a century by the men who have dared 
to be true to the people, and have dared to be honest 
in politics. 

"When I make a promise to the people I keep it, or I 
frankly tell the people why I cannot keep it. When my 
party makes a promise to the people, I want my party to 
keep the promise, or I want the people to know the rea- 
son why. 

**Let us keep the faith. That is where I stand, and I 
shall stand there to the end. If any Democrat is against 



258 THE BOSS, OR 

me in my determination to keep Democratic faith, I 
must of necessity be against him. 

"It is all very simple to me. If any Democrat in this 
State is against the Democratic State platform that man 
is no true Democrat ; and as the Democratic Governor of 
the State I shall do everything in iny power to drive 
that recreant Democrat out of the councils of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

"The record will show that for years I have been a 
consistent advocate of genuine direct primaries, and I 
firmly believe that the enactment into law of a State- 
wide Direct Primary Bill, along the lines of the measure 
we have caused to be prepared, and which was introduced 
in the Legislature, will accomplish what the voters de- 
sire, and reflect greater credit on the members of the 
present Legislature than the passage of any other act 
that will be presented for their consideration this year." 



THE GOVERNOR 259 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

SPEECH OF MR. SULZER, IN THE OPERA 

HOUSE, CORNING, N. Y., MAY 20, 1913. 
(Reprinted from Corning Gazette. Stenographically 

Reported.) 

Mr. Sulzer said: 

"There are only two kinds of primaries — direct and 
indirect. The latter constitutes the reactionary system ; 
the former constitutes the progressive system. I am for 
the direct system. I want the people to nominate be- 
cause I want the people to rule. The power to nominate 
is the power to control. Do not forget that. (Applause.) 

*'To have direct primaries and to have State conven- 
tions is impossible. Direct primaries have been devised 
by the friends of good government to permit the people 
to nominate their officials directly without the inter- 
mediary of delegates, and as, of course, you cannot have 
State conventions without delegates, it follows that State 
conventions must go and honest direct primaries must 
come. There is no middle ground. There can be no 
compromise. (Applause.) 

"It is self-evident to me that if the people are com- 
petent to directly elect their public officials they are just 
as competent to directly nominate these officials. 

"The bosses say they will beat me. I have heard that 
before. The bosses could not beat me years ago when 
I was an Assemblyman for five years in this State. 
(Applause.) They could not prevent me going to 
Congress, and I stayed there in spite of them for eigh- 
teen years. (Applause.) 

"They say they will destroy me, but I tell you no man 
can destroy me but William Sulzer. (Applause.) I 



260 THE BOSS, OR 

care very little about the political future, and less about 
personal consequences. I shall go on doing my duty 
to the people as God gives me the light to see the right. 
(Applause.) 

"During the last campaign they tell me I spoke to 
more people than any other candidate for office in all 
the history of the State. I told the people simple 
truths from the bottom of my heart. Many doubted 
the sincerity of my speeches in the campaign, but 
there was one man who never doubted the sincerity of 
those speeches, and that was the man who is now the 
Governor of the State. (Applause.) 

''It is all very simple to me, because I am a simple 
man. I am just the same to-day, as Dr. Bush here can 
tell you, as I was in the Legislature a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago. I am just the same to-day, as Congressman 
Underbill here can tell you, as I was in Congress. I 
haven't changed. I don't intend to change. Others have 
changed, and if the fight is on, it is their fault, and not 
mine. (Applause.) 

*'A11 I want to be is honest. (A voice: 'YouVe 
right.') All I want to do is keep the faith; all I desire 
is to tell the truth. I want to make good. (Applause.) 
When I am dead and buried the only monument I want 
is to have the people say in their hearts — 'Well done, 
Bill.' (Great applause.) 

'T am not working for the bosses. I am working for 
the people. (Applause.) I want to do something for 
my fellow man. I know, in the last analysis, that when 
the future historian pens the record of my adminis- 
tration I will be judged not by what I say but by what 
I have accomplished. (Applause.) 

"I am trying to do things. Do things for myself? No! 
not at all : but to do things for all the people. Do you 
think it is easy? If you only knew how I am threat- 
ened; if you only knew the obstacles that are put in 
my way; if you only knew how discouraging it is at 



THE GOVERNOR 261 

times, you would sympathize with me in the struggle, 
and every honest man would be with me in the fight for 
the right." (Applause.) 

(A voice: "You have a crowd in this part of the 
State that will back you up.") 

''Thank you for that. What that man says I hope is 
true. At this time I want to congratulate you for send- 
ing to the Legislature Senator Seeley, and Assembly- 
man Brewster, and Assemblyman Seely. (Applause.) 
They voted for direct primaries. They are good men. 
They are honest representatives. They have served the 
people faithfully. They are entitled to praise and com- 
mendation. They stood by you at Albany. (Ap- 
plause.) They stood by you when every effort was 
made by the bosses, to get them to vote against your 
interests. All honor to these representatives. Their 
votes for direct primaries were right, and they will never 
have cause to regret it. * 

*'My friends, what is the issue? It is very simple. It 
is the people against the bosses. (Applause.) A child 
can understand it. You know there are two kinds of 
taxes — direct and indirect. So I tell you there are 
two kinds of primaries — direct' and indirect. Direct 
primaries are the kind the people want. Indirect pri- 
maries are the kind the bosses want. If you are for the 
people you are for direct primaries. If you are for the 
bosses then you are for indirect primaries. 

''The friends of direct nominations are fighting for a 
principle. A principle is fundamental. You cannot 
compromise it. (Applause.) It is ridiculous to try, 
although a few of the bosses are trying to do it. If 
you are for direct primaries you are in favor of the 
voters nominating all candidates for public office." (Ap- 
plause.) 

(A voice: "That's right.") 

"In the beginning of our history there were men who 
said that the people could not be trusted ; that it was 



262 THE BOSS, OR 

better to have a King around than to let the people 
govern themselves ; but Washington, and Frank- 
lin, and Jefferson, did not think that way. The men in 
those days who said the people could not be trusted were 
called Tories. We have Tories now, just as the patriotic 
fathers had them, only the Tories of to-day are called 
Political Bosses. (Applause.) 

*'The political bosses tell us that we may have sense 
enough to nominate a constable, but not brains enough to 
nominate a Governor. They are willing to let us nom- 
inate a justice of the peace, but we must not think of 
nominating a Judge of the Supreme Court. (Laughter.) 

'The truth is, I trust the people, and the people trust 
me. We understand each other, and we know how to 
get along together. That is the reason, I believe, why it 
is that during all the years I have been in public life, 
— just half of my natural life — I have never been beaten 
for public office, although most of the time I had to 
run in a Republican district. (Applause.) 

"It is my experience that the man who trusts the 
people never trusts them in vain. I know in trusting 
them now I shall not be disappointed. (Applause.) 
There has never been a time in all our history when 
a public man trusted the people that the people did not 
trust that public man. There has never been a time 
when the people, deprived of political power at the 
formation of the government were given an opportun- 
ity to get that political power in their own hands that 
they did not take it. 

"If anybody doubts that let him read the story of the 
adoption of the amendments to the Federal Constitu- 
tion. All of these amendments have been written in the 
Constitution by the rank and file, against the protest of 
men who said the people could not be trusted. (Ap- 
plause.) 

"Our fight for direct primaries is the old question over 
again. The few want to govern, because they do not 



THE GOVERNOR 263 

trust the people. I am on the side of the people. I 
declare the people are competent to govern themselves, 
and I want to trust them with their own government. 
If the people want to control their government they 
must nominate the candidates for public office. They 
cannot control unless they nominate. The power to 
nominate is the power to control. (Applause.) 

"Why is it that two men in our State, to-day, control 
the Legislature? Because these two men control the 
nominations of the members of the Legislature. Unless 
the legislators do what these two men tell them to do 
they cannot be renominated. Take away the power to 
nominate, and you take away the power of the boss. 
(Applause.) 

"That is the reason why the bosses are against our bill 
for direct primaries. Can you blame the bosses ? Well, 
hardly. But when we want to give the people the power 
to be their own bosses can anyone doubt that the people 
will not gladly take this power to nominate. (Applause.) 

"De Tocqueville — in the greatest story that has ever 
been written about the free institutions of America — 
says that this Republic will never perish because it pos- 
sesses the power to legislate, and to adjudicate, and 
to execute. Our government is indestructible, as was 
demonstrated during the Civil War, because it has this 
power to execute. (Applause.) 

"As the Governor of the State I realize every day, 
more and more, the tremendous agency of this power 
to execute. What do the bosses, and the special in- 
terests, care about the laws if they can control the man 
who executes the laws? Nothing. Why are they fight- 
ing me so bitterly? You know. Because they cannot 
control the man who is executing the laws of the State 
of New York. (Applause.) 

"We want to make the people free to control their 
own government by giving them the power to nominate 
their own public officials. We assert, and defy success- 



264 THE BOSS, OR 

fill contradiction, that if the voters are capable of 
nominating an alderman they are just as capable of 
nominating a United States Senator. Any assertion to 
the contrary is an indictment against our intelligence, 
and a protest against our advancing civilization. (Ap- 
plause.) Out upon such a proposition. (Applause.) 

"Notwithstanding the fact that I have always been in 
favor cf the people nominating all candidates for pub- 
lic office, I went into this struggle for direct nomina- 
tions slowly and cautiously. All winter I appealed to 
the members of the Legislature to carry out the prom- 
ises of the Syracuse platform. I wanted them to keep 
faith with the voters. I wanted them to help me write 
on the statute books a Direct Primary Law — State-wide 
in its scope. (Applause.) They refused to do it. Then 
I sent a special message to the Legislature telling the 
members exactly what they ought to do about it. They 
answered that special message by sending me the abortive 
Blauvelt Bill to make matters worse instead of better. I 
vetoed it in language that could not be misunderstood. 
(Applause.) We then sent them our bill. They beat 
it. How did they beat it? I will tell you how they beat 
our Direct Primary Bill. First the Democrats caucused 
against it. Then the Republicans caucused against it. 
The two great political parties caucused to defeat this 
bill of the people. I am a pretty good parliamentarian. 
J have studied parliamentary law for a quarter of a 
century. I have searched through the precedents, and 
I tell you that in all the history of parliamentary gov- 
ernment this was the only time when two political par- 
ties caucused to beat one bill. (Laughter.) 

"Do you suppose the members of the Legislature 
beat our Direct Primaries Bill of their free will and 
accord? Certainly not. The Democratic members got 
their orders over the telephone from the Boss in Del- 
monico's, and the Republicans got their orders from Mr. 
Barnes in Albany. These orders beat the bill. What a 



THE GOVERNOR 365 

spectacle of representative government ? What an indict- 
ment of free institutions. What shall we say when a 
boss in one part of the State and a boss in another part 
of the State, acting in concert, compel the members of 
Legislature to caucus to beat a bill these very members 
were pledged to enact? There was never anything like 
it in all the history of our State, and I trust after another 
election there will never be anything like it again. (Ap- 
plause and laughter.) 

"No man fears direct primaries, except a man whose 
character, and whose ability, and whose mentality can- 
not bear the searchlight of publicity. No man fears 
direct primaries, unless he wants to be the creature of 
invisible government rather than the servant of popu- 
lar government." (Loud cheering.) 



266 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XXXVH 

ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR SULZER, MAY 21, 
1913, AT THE ELAHRA COLLEGE, THE 
OLDEST COLLEGE FOR WOMEN IN AMER- 
ICA. 

(Reprinted from the Elmira Gazette.) 
(Stenographically reported.) 

The President of the College, Dr. McKenzie, when 
he introduced the Governor, said : 

"Your Excellency, one of our most beautiful young 
ladies, Miss Hutchinson, the representative of the As- 
sociation of Suffragettes, in this college, wants to decor- 
ate you." 

(The young lady then stepped forward and pinned a 
bow of satin ribbon on the lapel of the Governor's coat.) 

Governor Sulzer said : 

"Dr. McKenzie and Ladies: It is a real pleasure for 
me to meet you, and greet you, on this beautiful after- 
noon. I had no idea there were so many good looking 
young women in the Elmira College. (Laughter and 
applause.) Dr. McKenzie is to be congratulated upon 
the intelligence, the neat appearance, and the enthusiasm 
of his students. I would not mind being a teacher here 
myself. (Laughter.) 

"They tell me this was the first college in the world to 
confer degrees on women. That is something to boast 
about. I am proud to stand within its walls and testify 
to my appreciation of its greatness and its liberality. 
(Applause.) I believe in equal rights to all. I have 
believed in that all my life. (Applause.) 

"Nearly a quarter of a century ago I introduced in the 



THE GOVERNOR 26':( 

Legislature of this State a bill to give women the right 
to vote. The bill did not become a law, but shortly 
afterwards some narrow-minded men got control of 
the Constitutional Convention, and fearing that such a 
bill might pass, they wrote in our Constitution the word 
"male" so as to restrict to men the right of suffrage. 
That was an indictment against every mother, and every 
sister, and every daughter, in the State. I voted against 
the adoption of that Constitution, because that indict- 
ment against our womanhood was in it. (Applause.) 

*T hope the day is not far distant when women shall 
have all the political rights that the men possess. I am in 
favor of woman suffrage. (Applause.) It will come 
ere long in our State. (Applause.) 

"I am deeply interested in our schools and our col- 
leges. They are great agencies for good. Fifty years 
ago, Charles Sumner, standing on the floor of the United 
States Senate, gave utterance to this thought — 'the two 
greatest agencies in the world for the advancement of 
civilization are good schools and good roads.' There 
never was a thought uttered truer than that. (Ap- 
plause.) 

'T am glad, as the Executive of the first State in the 
Union, to testify that we are now doing more in New 
York for popular education than any other State in 
America. (Applause.) 

'T am glad to be here with the Alayor of your beau- 
tiful city, the Hon. Daniel Sheehan, and with Mr. Gan- 
nett, the editor of one of our most progressive 
newspapers, and with this dear old Soldier and States- 
man, the Nestor of Chemung County — my good friend 
Dr. Bush. (Applause.) 

"We are making a trip through the State to tell the 
voters something about direct primaries. You know 
about the fight we are having in Albany to secure this 
reform. Perhaps it would not be amiss if I were to 



268 THE BOSS, OR 

say a word or two to you about the matter before we 
go away. 

"The Bosses tell us the voters have enough brains 
to nominate a Constable, but they haven't enough brains 
to nominate a Governor. I dififer with them about that. 
We assert that the voters of the State of New York are 
just as capable as the Bosses to nominate candidates 
for public of^ce. 

*'As a matter of fact I would rather trust the voters 
to make the nominations than to trust the Bosses. I 
believe a million and a half voters in the State of New 
York can nominate as good men for public ofBce as 
the two political bosses. (Applause.) 

"When two men defy the inherent rights of a mil- 
lion and a half voters I know what is going to happen. 
These two Bosses can prevent the Legislature, which 
they now control, from passing our direct primaries 
bill, but when public opinion gets after these Boss- 
owned members of the Legislature they will ultimately 
surrender. (Applause.) Time is on our side. There 
never was a time in our history, and there never will 
be a time in our history when a couple of political 
bosses could defeat for long the just demands of a 
million and a half determined citizens. (Applause.) 

"They tell me Prof. McKenzie is a Scotch Presby- 
terian. My mother's ancestry comes from that stock. 
I have in me some of that fighting blood. The Bosses 
said, when I began this direct primary campaign, that 
I would not fight. That I would be like Hughes and 
Dix — talk a little, and then give up the struggle-. They 
know better than to say that now. (Laughter and ap- 
plause.) 

"If it is wise to trust the people with the power to 
nominate some public officers I am sure it is just as 
wise to trust them with the power to nominate all pub- 
lic officers. I believe it is just as wise to trust them to 
nominate a Governor as to trust them to nominate a 



THE GOVERNOR 269 

Constable, and as wise to trust them to nominate a 
judge of the Supreme Court as to trust them to nom- 
inate a Justice of the Peace. 

"The people have been trusted with this power to 
nominate in many other States, and they have used 
it most intelligently to bring about good government 
a:id greatly improved political conditions. Let the 
Empire State put itself in line with the foremost 
States in the Union, by favoring nominations by the 
voters, for thus only can we secure a government of 
the people. (Applause.) 

*'So if any one tells you that direct nominations is 
not a good thing, you deny it, and point to what other 
States have done through the agency of this beneficent 
reform. 

'Our State-wide direct primary bill is a good meas- 
ure. I am for it. My friends are for it. Every good 
citizen is for it. The platform of nearly every party 
is for it. On this issue there is no middle ground. The 
Democrats of the State must stand with their Democratic 
Governor for direct primaries, or they must be against 
the Democratic platform. Every Democrat must de- 
cide. All my life I have fought for the right ; for sim- 
ple justice, and for humanity. I shall not change now. 
(Applause.) 

"What honest Democrat in our State wants me to be 
false to our platform ; to be a traitor to our party ; and 
to be a deserter in the performance of duty ? Let him 
speak out. In this cause for direct primaries I have no 
fear of the ultimate result. The people are sure to win. 
(Applause.) 

'Tn conclusion let me thank you for your cordial 
greeting. I wish all success to the students of this 
college. You are on the threshold of the larger life — 
of great expectations — of widening opportunities. You 
are the coming teachers, and the coming mothers of our 
country. God bless you — each and every one — and all 



270 THE BOSS, OR 

honor to the man — Prof. McKenzie — and his assistants 
— for all they have done, and for all they are doing- so 
unselfishly to make you useful women, brave women, 
and good women — women who will do your duty in 
every walk of life, here and everywhere." (Long con- 
tinued applause.) 



THE GOVERNOR 



271 




From the Albany Knickerbocker Press, 1913 

MORE POWER TO THIS PEOPLE'S GOVERNOR. 



^7^ THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XXXVin 

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?" 

Speech of Governor Sulzer at Cooper Union, New 
York City^ on Saturday Night, June 14, 1913. 

Mr. Sulzer said in part: 

"All the arguments now used against the abolition 
of State conventions have been used in opposition to 
the direct election by the people of United States Sena- 
tors, but these arguments have been in vain against the 
rising tide of progressive democracy. 

"I want to restore to the people of the State the com- 
plete control of their State government ; to afford the 
voters of the State the freest expression of their choice 
of candidates for public office; and I believe that our 
'State-wide' Direct Primary Bill embraces an honest, 
a sincere, a comprehensive plan for these accomplish- 
ments. 

"It is my candid opinion that every member of the 
Legislature is solemnly bound in honor, and is pledged, 
by the highest moral and political obligations, to vote 
for the enactment of a Direct Primary Bill ; and those 
who fail to do so will be recreant to their promises and 
forced to yield to public opinion, and be replaced by 
others who will vote to give the State an efficient State- 
wide Direct Primary Law, that will embrace every office, 
from Governor down to constable. 

"I ran for the Governorship on the platform of the 
Syracuse convention, and after I was nominated I stood 
on it throughout the campaign — squarely and honestly. 

"At the request of my party I made a campaign 
through the State. They tell me I spoke to more people 



THE GOVERNOR 273 

during the contest than any other candidate in all the 
history of the State. I told the people that if I were 
elected I would do everything in my power to carry out 
the pledges of my party as enunciated in the Syracuse 
platform. Many doubted the sincerity of my campaign 
speeches ; but there was one man who never doubted, 
them, and that is the man who is now the Governor of 
the State. 

**When I cannot be honest in politics, I shall get out of 
politics. I believe honesty in politics will succeed, just 
the same as I know honesty in business will succeed. 

"When I make a promise to the people I keep it, or 
I frankly tell the people why I cannot keep it. When 
my party makes a promise to the people, I want my 
party to keep the promise, or I want the people to know 
the reason why. 

"Let us keep political faith with the voters. That is 
my motto. That is where I stand, and I shall stand there 
to the end. If any man is against me in my determina- 
tion to keep the faith, I must of necessity be against 
that kind of a man. 

"In the recent session of the Legislature the bosses 
told the people's representatives to beat the Governor's 
Direct Primary Bill. In the extra session of the Legis- 
lature, called by me, and soon to convene, I want the 
voters who elected the Senators, and the Assemblymen, 
to tell them to vote for our measure as they direct, and 
not as the political bosses misdirect. 

"What are you going to do about it? I will tell you 
what to do. Instruct your representatives in the Legis- 
lature what your wishes are in this matter. Tell them 
what you want them to do about our bill for direct pri- 
maries, and rest assured they will not dare to cheat you 
again.' 

"Let us not deceive ourselves, and let us not try to 
deceive the people; the plain fact is, that in our pri- 
mary reform legislation we, in New York State, have 



274: ' THE BOSS, OR 

left off our work just where the people expected us to 
begin. 

"By not making our Direct Primary Law apply di- 
rectly to the nomination of State officers we have con- 
tinued the delegate system in the particular field in 
which it has proven the most unsatisfactory to the 
people. 

"Under direct primaries the people will govern them- 
selves, through representatives, but through representa- 
tives selected by themselves. Representative government 
is only made actual when the power to name candidates 
is taken away from the political bosses, and placed in 
the hands of the voters of the political party. 

''That the people of our State are determined to have 
no intermediary between themselves and their public 
servants has been shown by the adoption, in New York, 
of the seventeenth amendment to the Federal Consti- 
tution, under which the people have taken from the 
Legislature the right to elect United States Senators. 

"The people are now demanding a new declaration of 
political imdependence to the aid of which they are 
pledging their most earnest efforts to bring their rep- 
resentatives in the Legislature to the support of our 
Direct Primary Bill, which will estabHsh conditions 
under which in things political every man shall count 
for one, and no man shall count for more than one. 

"What are you going to do about it? This is your 
fight. No government can be free that does not allow all 
its citizens to participate in the formation and the exe- 
cution of its laws. Every other government is a mere 
form of despotism. The political history of the world 
illustrates the truth that under the forms of democratic 
government popular control may be destroyed, and cor- 
rupt influences, through invisible political power, estab- 
lish a veritable despotism/' 



THE GOVERNOR 275 



CHAPTER XXXIX 

SHALL THE PEOPLE RULE? 

SPEECH OF GOVERNOR SULZER, ON DIRECT 
PRIMARIES, AT HARMANUS BLEECKER 
HALL, ALBANY, JUNE 17, 1913. 

(Reprinted from the Knickerbocker Press.) 
(Stenographically reported.) 

Mr. Sulzer said : 

"During the last campaign I appeared on this stage 
and told those assembled that I stood squarely on the 
Democratic platform and if elected would do every- 
thing in my power to carry out its pledges. 

"Many remember that speech. You recollect, no 
doubt, that I said if I were elected the Governor no 
influence would control me in the performance of my 
duty, but the dictates of my conscience, and my deter- 
mination to do all I could for the people as God gave 
me the light to see the right. 

"Many doubted the sincerity of that campaign speech 
— but there was one man who never doubted its sincerity 
— and that is the man who is now the Governor of the 
State. (Applause.) 

"The good people in Albany know me. I am no 
stranger here. The enemies of honest government can- 
not place me in a false light with the decent people of 
our Capital City. Shall the people rule? That is the 
issue. 

"The citizens of the State know that all I am trying 
to do as the Governor is to keep the faith ; to make good 
the pledges of my party ; and to give the people of the 



276 THE BOSS, OR 

State of New York an honest, an efficient, and an eco- 
nomical administration of public affairs. 

"The average citizen would naturally think that is 
just what I ought to do, and the easiest thing in the 
world for me to do. But I assure him that notwith- 
standing that is my desire, it is the hardest task I have 
ever tried to accomplish. 

*'Ever since I have been the Governor, every ob- 
stacle has been placed in my way, and I regret to say, 
by men high in the councils of my own party, just 
because I wanted to do what I promised to do and what 
my party promised to do. That is all there is to this 
bitter warfare now being waged against me, by the bosses 
from one end of the State to the other. 

*' Suffice it for me to say that my purpose is to re- 
store to the people of the State the complete 
control of their State government ; to afford the voters 
of the State the freest expression of their choice of 
candidates for public office; and I believe that our 
State-wide Direct Primary Bill embraces an honest, a 
sincere, a comprehensive, and a practical plan for these 
•accomplishments. 

''There are only two kinds of primaries — direct and 
indirect. The latter constitutes the boss system ; the 
former constitutes the progressive system. I am for the 
direct system. I want the voters to nominate because 
I want them to rule. The power to nominate is the 
power to control. Do not forget that. 

''Tweed used to say that he cared not who elected 
the officials so long as he could nominate them. Do you 
know why? Because the power tO' nominate officials 
is the power to control these officials when they go into 
office. That is all there is to it — and that is the rea- 
son the bosses want to keep this power to nominate. 
The power to nommate makes the boss. That is why 
every political boss in the State is against direct nomi- 
nations. 



THE GOVERNOR 277 

"Tweed was a boss. You remember he challenged 
the power of the people. He spurned their petitions. 
He trampled on their rights. With brazen audacity he 
defied the voters and said : 'What are you going to do 
about it?' You know the answer. Have the little Boss 
Tweeds so soon forgotten the tragic fate of Big Boss 
Tweed ? It is an old saying that history repeats itself. 
(Applause.) 

*'Now a few words about a little Boss in Al- 
bany County — one Patrick E. McCabe. You know 
something about him and his methods. (Applause.) 

''Yesterday he circulated what he calls a bitter attack 
on me. It was a screed so ridiculous that I suppose I 
should not dignify it by denial. I hope every one here 
read this McCabe attack. 

"Let me, however, read a letter from Mr. McCabe, 
sent to me at Washington last December. This letter 
reads as follows: 

Senate Chamber — Clerk's Office. 

Albany, N. Y., Dec. 2, 1912. 
"His Excellency William Sulzer, New Willard Hotel, 
Washington, D. C: 

"My dear Governor. — Again permit me to congratu- 
late you as the Moses of the party. 

"You know, I believe the thing which mitigated most 
against Mr. Dix was that he had not changed the po- 
litical situation in the State, that under him it remained 
just as it had been under his several Republican prede- 
cessors, and I believe the people resented this more than 
anything else. What is needed is somebody who will 
have the courage to change the political situation ; one 
who will have everyone round him in sympathy with his 
party, and his administration. 

"The Democratic party under the Dix adminis- 
tration never recovered from two or three prominent 
Republican appointments made at the outset of it. To 



278 THE BOSS, OR 

make yourself the most talked of man in the United 
States and the most beloved partisan in this State you 
have but to emphasize your Democracy on the first of 
January or as soon thereafter as you can. The Demo- 
cratic party wants vigorous evidence of its success, and 
you are the man, in my judgment, to bring it about. 
We have heads of departments here who have nine 
hundred and ninety-nine reasons why a Republican 
should not be disturbed and the same number of reasons 
why a Democrat cannot be assisted. 

"Civil service has a tendency to destroy partisan- 
ship and leave in its place a class of time serving per- 
sons. Instead of being dependents of an adminis- 
tration, they are independents, so far at least as the last 
two years is concerned. They seem to come and go 
when they please and perform as little work as they pos- 
sibly can. It is the greatest breeder of parasites of 
which I have ever known or heard. 

*'One forceful administration by you will prove that 
the people's party is again in power and destroy for a 
generation what is left of the Republican party. 

''Under the conditions which have obtained for the 
last two years, Republicans have two chances and the 
Democrats but half a chance. The Republicans have 
a chance when their party is in and a chance when we 
are in ; the Democrats had no chance when the Repub- 
licans were in and have had only half a chance while 
we have been in. Now, what is wanted is that the Re- 
publicans have no chance anywhere under a Democratic 
administration. You have an opportunity -such as has 
not been given to any young man in public life in this 
country. 

**Mr. Dix thought he could progress by standing still. 
You have the advantage of knowing what is right be- 
cause your predecessor was wrong. Your past warrants 
the Democracy in believing in your future. 

"May I remind you that Andrew Jackson was the 



THE GOVERNOR 279 

first Democrat to reach the Presidency, to rise from 
humble surroundings to greatness and he owed his suc- 
cess entirely to his vigorous partisanship? So decisive 
and emphatic was he on questions of party government 
that the blood of the party to-day quickens to the sound 
of his name; and I look to hear, during your adminis- 
tration, the party cry of 'Another Jackson has risen.' 

"I know that everyone who writes you has a remedy 
and everyone who talks to you is an adviser; but there 
is one simple rule which leads in this situation to great- 
ness and that is that you manfully maintain the position 
of being a militant Democrat. 

"I trust you will overlook, perhaps, the needlessness 
of this letter to you. It is not alone interest in you, but 
interest in the party that prompts me to write you thus. 

"With best wishes for your good health and unprece- 
dented success in your new undertaking, I remain, 
"Sincerely yours, 

"PATRICK E. McCABE." 

(Great laughter, and applause, interrupted and greeted 
the reading of this letter.) 

"This letter from Mr. McCabe speaks for itself, and 
makes mighty interesting reading, as Horace Greeley 
used to say, in view of the libelous screed against me 
this same Mr. McCabe has just caused to be printed. I 
might ask who paid for the printing? 

"I was a great man, apparently, in McCabe's estima- 
tion so long as he believed I would recognize him as the 
boss of the Democratic party in Albany county; but 
just so soon as I gave some recognition to Mr. Dugan — 
a decent man — and the Democratic State committee- 
man from Albany county, Mr. McCabe goes wild, and 
has his good but erratic friend write a libelous mani- 
festo about me, replete with statements without the 
slightest foundation in fact. The letter and the mani- 
festo show the difference, however, between now and 



280 THE BOSS, OR 

then. Poor McCabe. He is a cats-paw, and I feel 
sorry for him. 

'Terhaps I should say that there is very little truth in 
the screed of McCabe. Much of the matter is too ab- 
surd for me to dignify with a denial, especially in view 
of the fact that another man wrote it. 

"Who wrote it ? Who gave the writer the information ? 
That is what the people want to know. Let McCabe tell. 
He has recently been in conference with Mr. Murphy 
in Delmonico's. H he knows let him tell all he knows. 
They say McCabe is a squealer. 

''They tell me this whole thing was deliberately planned 
and executed by crafty enemies of direct primaries, in 
New York City, for the purpose of breaking the force of 
my special message, on direct nominations, sent to the 
extraordinary session of the Legislature. 

"However, I do not think it will deceive any friend of 
the cause of direct primaries, or disconcert any citizen in 
the State. It certainly will not distract me, or prevent 
me, from going right ahead with my efforts to write 
upon the statute books a direct nominations law that 
will carry out in good faith the promises of the Demo- 
cratic party. These attacks on me are well understood. 
They will not hurt me in the end. But whether they do 
or not I shall go on regardless of political or personal 
consequences. (Applause.) 

"There is an old saying, you know, that when a lawyer 
has a bad case he should abuse the other side. Mr. Mc- 
Cabe, it seems, is in this category. He is so weak as a 
political leader, in Albany, that just one honest direct 
primary election would relegate his boss-ship to the po- 
litical scrap heap. (Applause.) 

"Mr. McCabe knows this, and hence he is fighting 
against direct primaries to save his political skin. That 
is all there is to it. McCabe thinks by abusing me he can 
defeat direct nominations, but his efforts will be abortive, 
and his antics are about as transparent and as ludicrous 



THE GOVERNOR 281 

as the ostrich, which sticks its head in the sand and thinks 
its body cannot be seen. Mr. McCabe's political head is 
in the political sand — but we all see the rest of him — and 
the sight is not alluring. (Applause.) 

"The adoption of State-wide direct primaries, and the 
abolition of State conventions, is in no sense an abandon- 
ment of the principle of representative government, but 
on the contrary it is a protest against the perversion of 
representative government. 

"U^ider direct primaries the people will govern them- 
selves, through officials, but through officials nominated 
as well as elected by themselves. That is why we want 
the voters to nominate. Representative government is 
only made actual when the power to nominate candidates 
is taken away from political bosses, and placed in the 
hands of the voters of the political party. 

"Our desire to enact a direct primary law is a strug- 
gle for good government — a fight to restore the gov- 
ernment to the people. The cause is their cause. In 
this battle for direct nominations I will lead where any. 
man will follow, and I will follow where any man will 
lead." (Applause.) 



282 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XL. 

Remarks of Governor Sulzer at the Conclusion of 
THE Largely Attended Meeting of Represen- 
tative Citizens, in the Executive Chamber, 
Albany, N. Y., June 23, 1913, Previous to the 
Hearing in the Assembly Chamber, on the 
Bill for Direct Primaries.. 

Governor Sulzer spoke as follows: 

'*My friends — and I say my friends advisedly — be- 
cause I am finding out more and more every day who 
are my friends. 

"When I became Governor I thought I didn't have 
an enemy. I know now that I have the most bitter 
enemies in the State. Nevertheless, I console myself 
with the reflection that every enemy that I have made, 
in the performance of my duty, since I became Gov- 
ernor, is an enemy to the State. (Applause.) 

'*It is gratifying to me to see so many representative 
citizens here this afternoon. I appreciate it more than 
words can tell. 

"You are to be congratulated for leaving your voca- 
tions, your varied interests, your homes, and coming 
here to do all in your power for the cause of direct 
nominations. That is for the general welfare, and 
there never was a time in my recollection when the 
general welfare of the greatest commonwealth in the 
Union was more threatened than it is to-day. I know 
whereof I speak. 

"All honor and all commendation to you good citizens. 
You are doing a great work for the common weal that 
perhaps some unthinking people do not now appreciate. 



THE GOVERNOR 283 

But as the years come and go the work you are doing 
will be more and more realized, and rnore and more ap- 
preciated by our fellow citizens. 

"You are doing a great work. When the future his- 
torian comes to write the annals of our time he will 
give a large space to this work in the history of our 
State. 

"But more than that, you are doing a work for good 
government ; a work for honest government ; a work for 
civic righteousness ; a work for the general welfare ; a 
work for the future greatness of our people and for the 
supremacy of New York. You are building for your- 
selves a monument more enduring than marble or 
brass. Do not forget that. Let it be your reward as 
it must now be your incentive. 

"Notwithstanding I have always been an advocate 
of direct primaries, many of you know that I went into 
this fight reluctantly. Why? Because I knew the 
bitter fight it would be. Many who urged me all 
winter long to take up this cause for direct primaries 
— urged me here and at the house and on the streets — 
are not here to-day. They have run away. They are 
now maligning me. They are with the enemies of the 
cause. Many who thought I was insincere when I began, 
know now to the contrary. No friend of direct pri- 
maries doubts me to-day. I am in the fight to stay, 
and to the end, come what may. (Applause.) 

"However, I do not want the people of the State to 
have their attention diverted by attacks on me from 
the main question of direct primaries. We must stick 
to the bill we have introduced in the extraordinary ses- 
sion of the Legislature for direct nominations and not 
be diverted by the bitter, and the outrageous, and the 
baseless, and the unfounded, and the slanderous, and the 
libelous attacks which are being hurled at me by the 
enemies of the reform. 
"We must not let our enemies muddy the waters; 



284 . THE BOSS, OR 

we must not allow them to play the act of the cuttle- 
fish ; we must not permit them to throw dust in the 
eyes of the people. Let them come out in the open 
and meet us on the main issue — the question of direct 
nominations. That is the issue. Rest assured I shall 
not be diverted, or distracted, by the mud which these 
unmitigated scoundrels throw at me. I am a fighter. 
I know how to fight. (Long applause.) 

"It is unnecessary for me to say I am more inter- 
ested in the passage of this direct primary bill than I 
am in personal controversies that unscrupulous men 
now raise in order to distract attention while they 
slaughter our direct primary bill in the Legislature. 
Do not let them dodge the question. They cannot intimi- 
date me. I am driving them into the open so that all 
can see. I am holding them responsible. They cannot 
escape the responsibility. 

"Let Mr. Murphy abuse me. I care not. He beat the 
primary bill in the last session of the Legislature. I 
challenge him to deny it. 

"During the campaign, since the adjournment of the 
regular session of the Legislature, I have said to Mr. 
Murphy, don't dodge; don't hide; come out in the open 
and tell the people whether you are going to beat the 
bill for direct nominations in the extraordinary session 
of the Legislature? That is the question. That is 
what we want to know. (Applause.) 

"You know and I know that Mr. Murphy is the only 
man in the State who can beat this bill. What a 
spectacle! Do you realize it? One boss in the great 
State of New York defying the people; spurning their 
petitions; trampling on their rights; laughing in their 
faces ; and like Tweed in his day, brazenly and auda- 
ciously saying: 'What are you going to do about it?' 
(Cheers.) 

"What a pitiable spectacle ! Isn't it enough to bring 



THE GOVERiNOR 285 

the blush of shame to the cheek of every decent citizen 
in our commonwealth. (Applause.) 

"How humiliating it all is. Shall it go forth from 
one end of the country to the other that Mr. Murphy 
doth feed upon something, forsooth, that he has grown 
so great that he has more power, that he has more in- 
fluence than all the other ten millions of people in the 
State of New York? 

"What shall the answer be? 

*'No one knows better than I do how I have been 
threatened during this fight by the enemies of the 
cause. They are the enemies of the State. Behind it 
all there is a sad story which some day when I have 
less to do than at present I shall tell. 

"Fear not, my friends, have courage, keep the faith. 
We're going to win. (Applause.) 

"We are going to win because we are right; we are 
going to win because the people are with us ; we are 
going to win because the history of the English-speak- 
ing peoples from the days of Runnymede down to the 
present time, demonstrates that the people have never 
lost a battle when they made up their minds to win a 
fight for progress and for the general welfare. 

"Fear not, my friends, about these vile and baseless 
attacks the enemies of the cause are making on me be- 
cause I am leading the fight. Have no fear about me. 
I can fight my own battles. Be assured I shall meet 
at the proper time, and in a conclusive way all these 
vicious, all these villainous attacks they are now mak- 
ing upon me, and with which I have been threatened 
by Murphy, ever since I began the fight. 

"Our enemies demanded that I desist; that I be a 
proxy Governor; that I become a rubber stamp — a 
tool of conspirators to loot the State and to rob the 
taxpayers. I refused. They did not know me, but 
they know me now. (Applause.) 

"Let us go forward with the fight. All will be well 



286 THE BOSS, OR 

with me in the end. When the truth is known it will 
illustrate anew and accentuate again the stanza of one 
of America's famous poets: 

" 'Truth crushed to earth will rise again, 
The eternal years of God are hers, 

While error wounded writhes in pain, 
And dies amid her worshippers.' " 

(Long cheering and applause.) 



THE GOVERNOR 287 



CHAPTER XLI. 

GOVERNOR SULZER'S LAST MESSAGE ON 
DIRECT PRIMARIES. 

Extraordinary Session. 

STATE OF NEW YORK 

Executive Chamber 

Albany, June 16, 1913. 
To THE Legislature: 

It must be apparent, to the average man, from a care- 
ful reading of the platforms, that the leading politi- 
cal parties, in our State, are irrevocably committed, 
by the most explicit promises, to the enactment of legis- 
lation for genuine direct nominations. As a matter of 
fact, it seems to me, all the members of the present Leg- 
islature are instructed by these pledges of their respective 
parties, and are, therefore, in duty bound by the highest 
political obligations, to vote for a State-wide direct pri- 
mary measure. 

In my message to the Legislature at the beginning of 
the year I said: "We are pledged to direct primaries, 
State-wide in their scope and character, and I urge the 
adoption of such amendments as will make complete the 
direct primary system of the State." 

As nothing was done, of material moment, in con- 
nection with this recommendation, I again, in the 
early part of April, in a special message, urged the 
Legislature, in the interest of the general welfare, to 
hearken to the insistent demands of the people through- 
out the State for a direct State-wide primary law. Much 
to my disappointment, however, the Legislature ad- 



288 THE BOSS, OR 

journed without, in this respect, meeting the just ex- 
pectations of the voters. 

So a sense of pubHc obHgation made it my duty, in 
the interest of the common weal, to reconvene the Leg- 
islature in extraordinary session, to the end that the 
recommendations I have made to the Legislature for 
direct primaries can be considered, without further de- 
lay, and a bill passed for direct nominations which will 
fulfill party pledges. In response to the overwhelming 
sentiment of the State, I am convinced, we should do 
this as a matter of duty to our constituents. 

The record will show that for years I have been a 
consistent advocate of direct nominations. I am now, 
always have been, and always will be in favor of carry- 
ing out, in letter and in spirit, the platform pledges 
of a political party. The best way to strengthen a po- 
litical party is to keep good faith with the voters. 

Hence, in view of all the circumstances, in connection 
with the struggle in our State for a law to give the 
voters the right to nominate, it is my candid opinion 
that the Legislature in this extraordinary session, v/ith- 
out unnecessary delay, should give heed to its promises, 
and immediately consider, and with due deliberation, 
aid me to write upon our statute books a practicable and 
a comprehensive State-wide direct primary law that will 
faithfully carry out our pledges to the people. 

Direct nominations will go far to restore to the people 
the complete control of their State government ; and 
afford the voters of the State the freest expression of 
their choice of candidates for public office. 

The voters believe themselves just as competent to 
directly nominate all officials as the delegates they se- 
lect. They want this right to nominate because they 
have so often found the delegate system was not a faith- 
ful agency of their wishes, and that it not infrequently 
failed to meet the demands and the expectations of the 
people. 



THE GOVERNOR 289 

All the arguments now used against the abolition of 
the convention, or the delegate system of nominations, 
have been used in opposition to the direct election of 
United States Senators, but these arguments have been 
in vain against the ever rising tide of popular sovereignty 
and progressive democracy. 

Let us be true to ourselves. Let us not try to deceive 
the people. The plain fact is, that in our primary re- 
form legislation we, in New York State, have left off 
our work just where the citizens expected us to begin. 

By not making our primary law apply directly to 
the nomination of State officers we have continued the 
delegate system in the particular field in which it has 
proven the most unsatisfactory to the people. 

That the voters of our State are determined to have 
no intermediary between themselves and their public 
servants has been shown by the adoption of the seven- 
teenth amendment to the Federal Constitution, under 
which the people have taken from the Legislatures of 
the States the right to elect Senators in Congress. 

There are only two kinds of primaries — direct and 
indirect. The latter kind constitutes the present reac- 
tionary delegate system ; the former kind constitutes the 
progressive system which the people of our State now 
demand. I am for the direct system. 

I want the people to nominate their officials because 
I want the people to rule their government. The peo- 
ple know that the power to nominate is the power to 
control. That is the reason the voters, regardless of 
party affiliations, favor direct nominations. 

To have direct primaries and to have conventions of 
delegates is impossible. Direct primaries have been de- 
vised by the friends of good government to permit the 
voters in each political party to nominate their candi- 
dates for public office directly without the intermediary 
of delegates, and as, of course, you cannot have con- 
ventions without delegates, it follows, as the night the 



290 THE BOSS, OR 

day, that the convention system must go, and honest 
direct primaries must come. There is no middle ground. 
There can be no compromise. Those who want to com- 
promise are against the enrolled voters of their party. 
You cannot compromise a principle. 

It is self-evident to me that if the voters are com- 
petent to directly elect all their public officials they are 
just as competent to directly nominate these same of- 
ficials. Any assertion to the contrary is an indictment 
against the intelligence of the electorate of the State. 

If it is important for minor officials to be nominated 
by the people, it is still more important, it seems to me, 
that the people be given the power to nominate candi- 
dates for United States Senator and for Governor. If 
selfish interests seek to control public aflfairs for the 
promotion of their personal ends, through the manipu- 
lation of party conventions, the plain people should seek 
to do the same thing by taking in their own hands the 
right to nominate directly every one of these important 
officials. 

The adoption of State-wide direct primaries, and the 
abolition of delegate conventions, is in no sense an aban- 
donment of the principal of representative government, 
but on the contrary it is a protest against the perver- 
sion of representative government. 

Under direct primaries the people will govern them- 
selves, through officials the same as now, but through 
officials directly nominated and elected by themselves. 
Representative government is only made actual when 
the power to name candidates is taken away from the 
few, and placed in the hands of all the enrolled voters 
of each political party. 

The changes which the friends of direct nominations 
advocate in our primary law are in harmony with the 
spirit of the times, and will go far, in the opinion of 
sagacious men, to perpetuate our free institutions. 

These salutary changes in our primary system aim 



THE GOVERNOR 291 

to restore to the voters of each political party the rights 
which have been usurped by the few, for the benefit 
of powers invisible, which aim to control government, 
and to violate laws with impunity. To these invisible 
powers I am now, always have been, and always will be 
opposed. 

No government can be free which does not allow all 
of its citizens to participate in the formation as well 
as the execution of its laws. Every other government 
is a mere form of despotism. The political history of 
the centuries clearly illustrates the truth that, under the 
forms of democratic government, popular control may 
be destroyed, and corrupt influences, through invisible 
political power, establish a veritable despotism. 

If it is wise to trust the people with the power to 
nominate some public officials, I am sure it is just as 
wise to trust them with the power to nominate all public 
officials. I believe it is as wise to trust them to nomin- 
ate a Governor, as to trust them to nominate a con- 
stable ; and as wise to trust them to nominate a Supreme 
Court Judge, as to trust them to nominate a Justice of 
the Peace. The men who trust the average integrity, 
the men who believe in the average intelligence, of the 
voter, know not where, consistently, to draw the line as 
to the officials all should nominate, and the officials the 
few should nominate. As a believer in popular sover- 
eignty I am opposed to establishing a political dead line 
reg|0.rding this fundamental right of the people to nomin- 
ate all of their public servants. 

Let me, therefore, renew my former recommendations, 
reiterate all that I have previously said, and again sin- 
cerely and earnestly urge the Legislature to pass a di- 
rect primary bill that shall provide : 

1. That all party candidates for public office shall be 
nominated directly by the enrolled party voters at an of- 
ficial primary — the official primary to be conducted by 
the St,ate, and surrounded with all the safeguards of an 



292 THE BOSS, OR 

official election — any violation of the official primary- 
law to be a felony. 

2. A State committee of 150 members, one from each 
Assembly district, and a county committee for each 
county, shall be elected directly by the enrolled party 
voters at the official primary. 

3. All party candidates for public office to be voted 
for in the official primary must be designated by peti- 
tion only, the same as independent candidates. 

4. Every designating petition should contain the ap- 
pointment of a committee for filing vacancies on the pri- 
mary ballot. 

5. Candidates to be arranged on the ballot under the 
title of the office. All emblems on the official primary 
ballot must be abolished. Names of candidates to be 
numbered. The voter to indicate his choice by making a 
cross mark before the name of his candidate. 

6. The number of enrolled party voters required to 
sign a designating petition should be fixed at a percent- 
age of the party vote for Governor at the last preced- 
ing election, except that for State offices the number 
should not exceed 5,000 enrolled party voters. 

7. The official primary district shall be identical with 
the election district, and the primaries of all parties 
should be held at the same polling place, conducted by 
the regular election officers, just the same as an official 
election. 

8. Each party to have a Party Council to frame a 
platform ; such Council to consist of .the party candi- 
dates for office to be voted for by the State at large; 
party Congressmen and party United States Senators ; 
candidates for the Senate and Assembly ; members of 
the State committee; and the chairman of each county 
committee. 

9. The time for filing independent nominations sub- 
sequent to the filing of party nominations should be in- 
creased from five days, as now provided, to fourteen or 



THE GOVERNOR 293 

more days. The number of signers of an independent 
certificate of nomination should conform to the number 
of signers of a party designation. 

10. Election of United States Senator by the people 
should be provided for in accordance with the recent 
constitutional amendment. Nominations for United 
States Senator to be made at the official primary in the 
same manner as for the office of Governor. 

11. The use of party funds at primary elections to be 
absolutely prohibited, and made a felony. 

12. The penal law should be amended limiting to a 
reasonable sum the amount of money that may be ex- 
pended by a candidate, or anyone on his account, for 
the purpose of seeking a nomination to public office, any 
violation of the same to be a felony, and make the nom- 
ination, if secured, a nullity. 

13. Delegates and alternates from the State at large, 
and from congressional districts, to the National Con- 
vention should be chosen by the direct vote of enrolled 
party voters at the official primary. 

Such a law, in my judgment, will substantially re- 
deem our party pledges, and meet the just demands of 
the enrolled party voters of the State. Any proposi- 
tion less than this begs the whole question and violates 
the pledged faith of the several political parties to the 
voters in the State. 

In this connection, I deem it my duty, to say to the 
Legislature, that I have no pride of opinion regarding 
details and non-essentials in the construction and the 
enactment of this legislation. The assertion that I have 
said that my bill must pass without the crossing of a 
''t", or the dotting of an "i" is absurd, and without the 
slightest foundation in fact. I have had too much ex- 
perience as a legislator to utter such narrow-minded 
sentiments. As a matter of fact, the truth is, I have no 
vanity of authorship, and want none. My struggle is for 
the essential principle of State-wide direct nominations. 



294 THE BOSS, OR 

On that fundamental principle the friends of State-wide 
direct primaries declare that there can be no honorable 
compromise. 

No one can be deceived as to my contention and as to 
my attitude. All I am seeking to accomplish is to write 
on our statute books, an honest, and a simple, and a 
practicable direct nominations law — State-wide in its 
scope and application — in order to carry out in good 
faith party promises. That is all. Can I be more fair 
and more reasonable? 

Let us be honest about direct primaries, and keep 
our pledges to the people. At all events, as the Gov- 
ernor, I shall, and if the Legislature does not, the peo- 
ple will know the reason why. 

WM. SULZER. 



THE GOVERNOR 295 



CHAPTER XLH. 

GOVERNOR SULZER'S SPEECH IN THE EXECU- 
TIVE CHAMBER, JULY 22, 1913, TO A LARGE 
ASSEMBLY OF DEMOCRATS. 

Mr. Sulzer said: 

"This conference was called by the friends of direct 
primaries to counsel as to the best way to nominate and 
elect members of Assembly who will stand by the people 
and vote for genuine direct primaries in the next Legis- 
lature. 

*T have always been of the opinion that a member of 
the legislature, State or National, should be true to the 
principles of his party ; should be anxious at all times 
to carry out the promises of his party, and should al- 
ways be responsive to the will of the people. 

"However, in our Legislature at present that idea 
seems to be reversed. Its members apparently are more 
anxious to carry out the will of the bosses than the will 
of the voters. 

"Conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, and with 
the knowledge of public sentiment, we feel that it is 
the duty now of the men charged with the responsibility, 
who have within their grasp the machinery of the party, 
to see to it that the men who have been false are held 
accountable ; to see to it that men who will be responsive 
to the will of the voters are nominated for member of 
Assembly in each Assembly district of the State. In 
that way we will make progress. In that way we will 
get a very different kind of Assembly next year. In that 
way only can we succeed. (Applause.) 

"No one has a higher opinion of the Legislature of our 
State than the man who is now addressing you. I use 



296 THE BOSS, OR 

the expression generally. I served in the popular branch 
of the Legislature for five years, nearly a quarter of a 
century ago, and through my own efforts and by my own 
exertions, I rose, as a young man, step by step, until 
I became its speaker — one of the youngest speakers in 
the history of the State. (Applause.) 

"I know something about the legislative history of our 
State. I could name many great men who have served 
with honor and distinction in the popular branch of our 
Legislature. It is a great forum. It is the agency of the 
people of the State to express their will. 

"The office of Assemblyman is most important, and is 
great enough for the ambition of any man. In the years 
gone by we had many great men in the Assembly of 
our State. 

"To-day I regret to say that cannot be said concerning 
the present Assembly. I want to be charitable. You 
know, and I know, and the people know, that the present 
Legislature is controlled by influences adverse to the best 
interests of the people of the State. It is a matter that 
now challenges the sober judgment of the people. It is 
a matter that is now an affront to the intelligence of the 
citizens, and it is humiliating, not only to me, in my ef- 
forts to do right ; in my desire to keep the faith ; and in 
my determination to do my duty ; but to the due admin- 
istration of public affairs. (Applause.) 

"Another election is approaching — a very important 
election to the taxpayers of New York. We meet here 
in council to take some action in order that the next 
Assembly shall be different from the present ^Assembly. 
In order to make that a living fact it is necessary for 
you to see to it that the right kind of men are designated 
in each Assembly district for members of Assembly. 
(Applause.) 

"What do I mean by that ? Simply this : In the pres- 
ent crisis in the State of New York, where one man 
challenges the whole people, and because he cannot have 



THE GOVERNOR 297 

his way, he says to the people that they shall not have 
their way. So we say now, that in each of these Assem- 
bly districts, in the first instance, we shall appeal to that 
public spirit, and to that patriotism, which has never 
failed to respond, when it was necessary to respond, we 
ask you to aid us so that the ablest and the best men 
can be designated for members of Assembly, regardless 
of party affiliations, and elected to carry out the will 
of the people, and to see to it that the administration 
of State affairs is not longer paralyzed. 

''As I have said, many great men have been Assembly- 
men in New York. We want men in the Assembly next 
year; men who dare to do right; men who are free and 
independent ; men who believe in truth and dare to main- 
tain it; men who will see to it that the right shall pre- 
vail — regardless of political or personal consequences. 
(Applause.) 

''In each Assembly district there are worthy men, elo- 
quent men, brave men, honest men, who will respond to 
the call; who will allow their names to be used in this 
struggle for good government, and who will consent to be 
candidates for Assembly. They will be elected. They 
will come here the first of the year, take the oath of 
office, and be true to it — true to the general welfare, true 
to the commonwealth of New York — true to the party 
promises, and true to all that is good and honest and de- 
cent in public affairs. 

"As the Governor, through you, representing what you 
do, and having it in your power to accomplish results. 
I now appeal to the intelligent, to the patriotic, and to 
the public spirited citizens of New York to come forward 
in this campaign and aid us to elect an Assembly that 
will be beyond the influence of any man, and responsive 
only to the will of the people. 

"My friends, I am carrying a heavy burden. You 
know something about it, but you do not know all about 
it. 1 am doing so simply because I made up my mind 



298 THE BOSS, OR 

when I took the oath of office that I would be the Gov- 
ernor in fact as well as in name. Because I made up my 
mind that no influence should control me while I was the 
Governor, but the dictates of my own conscience, and my 
determination to do my duty, day in and day out, come 
what may. For these reasons, I have been traduced, 
vilified, and threatened as no other man has ever been, 
who occupied this office, in all the history of the State. 
(Cheers and applause.) 

"However, I have no fear of the ultimate result. I 
know by experience, by the truths of history, by that in- 
tuition which is unerring, that justice will prevail, and 
that rig-ht makes might. 

"If the honest folk, and the patriotic people of New 
York will stand together in this campaign we will win 
on election day a victory that will clarify the political 
atmosphere, and go far for years to come to give the 
State of New York what the State of New York needs — 
an honest government, and an efficient government, and 
an economical government — a government in the inter- 
ests not of the few but for the benefit of all. 

"I could say much that I will at present refrain from 
saying. Let us trust that in the wisdom of your counsel 
much good will come. You can count on me in the fu- 
ture as in the past to go forward in the work of re- 
form. I shall count on you to aid me. Let us all work 
together for the good of the State, and certainly that 
should be the highest ambition of every good citizen. 
(Long applause and three cheers for our Governor.) 



THE GOVERNOR 299 



CHAPTER XLHI. 

MR. SULZER'S GREAT FIGHT AGAINST THE 

GRAFTERS. 

Few men in the public life of the State had the train- 
ing and the experience, or were ever better mentally and 
physically equipped, to be Governor of the State of 
New York than William Sulzer. He had served five 
years in the Legislature a quarter of a century ago, and 
eighteen years continuously in Congress. He was 
familiar with politics, was one of the best known legis- 
lators in the country, and for twenty years had been 
schooled in the greatest schools for the onerous duties 
devolving upon him on the first day of January, 1913. 
He was able and honest. He was courteous and sincere. 
He had but one fault — he would not be bossed. 

Things were not bad at Albany, so far as graft in 
the State Departments was concerned, when Mr. Sulzer 
was in the Legislature during the administrations of 
Governors David B. Hill and Roswell P. Flower. Things 
were not bad, so far as graft was concerned, in the great 
departments of the Federal Government during the eigh- 
teen years that Mr. Sulzer was a member of Congress. 
Sulzer knew as a general thing that matters were honest 
in Washington. He believed they were honest in Albany 
— like they used to be when he was there twenty years 
ago. 

It has only been in recent years, however, that graft 
began to honeycomb the various departments of the 
State Government of New York. Of course, it goes 
without saying that Mr. Sulzer had heard more or less 
about graft at Albany before he went there to become 



300 THE BOSS, OR 

Governor. He has told some of his friends that he did 
not beHeve these stories, or that he thought they were 
exaggerated. However, he had determined before he 
took his oath of office as the Governor that he would 
clean house and find out what was wrong, and if there 
was anything wrong that he would put a stop to it. Xo 
one can read his inaugural address, and his first message 
to the Legislature, without coming to this irresistible 
conclusion. 

One of the first things the Governor did was to ap- 
point the Committee of Inquiry, and his reason for do- 
ing that was to find out, as quickly as possible, if there 
was anything wrong in the various Departments ; to stop 
graft ; to eliminate waste ; to retrench, and to practise 
every economy. The Committee of Inquiry in the sixty 
days it was in session did some good work ; but it only 
scratched the surface here and there ; but that was 
enough to reveal to Mr. Sulzer, and convince him that 
a more thorough investigation was absolutely necessary 
to get the grafters and to protect the taxpayers. He had 
not been in office long before he realized more than ever 
that "the task of administrative reform zvas his," and 
that it was up to him to drive out the parasitical grafters 
who had intrenched themselves in almost every depart- 
ment, and were slowly but surely bringing the Empire 
State to a condition bordering on bankruptcy. 

When the Committee of Inquiry ceased its labors, Mr. 
Sulzer appointed George W. Blake a special investigator 
under the Moreland Act to investigate the charges of 
corruption and maladministration in the Prison Depart- 
ment of the State of New York. Mr. Blake's reports 
to the Governor were a revelation that not only shocked 
him, but staggered the people of the State. We have 
only space in this volume to print but one of Mr. Blake's 
reports. 



THE GOVERNOR 



301 



4« 



IMPEACHING SULZER" 




From the Albany Knickerbocker Press 



WHAT A SPECTACLE! 



302 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

REPORT ON THE GREAT MEADOW PRISON. 

By George W. Blake, 

A Special Commissioner Appointed to Investigate Prisons 

and Reformatories of this State. 

Albany N. Y., April 9, 1913. 
Hon. William Sulzer, Governor, State of New York, 
Executive Chamber, Albany, N. Y. 
Sir. — I submit herewith my report on the work being 
done at Comstock, N. Y., in the construction of the Great 
Meadow prison. 

A conservative estimate fixes the loss to the State by 
construction of the buildings, through carelessness or 
graft, at $500,000. A peculiar feature of this situation 
is that no attempt has been made to conceal the wrong. 
It is so brazen and conspicuous that even the most un- 
observing visitor to the prison building must observe it. 
For more than two years this prison building job has 
been used to rob the State. 

Before going further into the details I want to call 
your attention to a situation that seems to exist in the 
Department of Prisons. It has been frequently said that 
there is a ''prison ring," forged for the purpose of steal- 
ing the people's money. I believe this statement to be 
true because the dishonesty of this particular job has 
so many ramifications. The bills for inferior work and 
for work not done at all passed through the hands of 
the State Architect, his representatives at the prison, the 
Comptroller, and the Superintendent of Prisons. 

All of these persons must have known that the bills 
were dishonest and should not have been paid. Yet they 
passed smoothly along and the money found its way 



THE GOVERNOR 303 

into the pockets of the contractors. A careful inves- 
tigation might show how much of it remained there. 

This was only part of the ring. The other parts were 
the sub-contractors, who provided what labor and ma- 
terial they pleased without interference. It must be 
plain to any thinking person that a long series of bills, 
practically all of them dishonest, could not have passed 
through so many hands without detection. 

This project was conceived in graft. The State paid 
$92,000 for property worth not more than $30,000. The 
excuse for this initial crime was the alleged need of a 
hospital building in the health-giving air of the Adiron- 
dack region. This was a mere subterfuge. The fact 
was that the owner of this property induced his political 
friends to help him unload it upon the State at more 
than three times its value. Then the Lunacy Commis- 
sion decided it did not want this property, thereby 
threatening to deprive the projectors of the scheme of 
large graft in the erection of buildings, and it was de- 
cided to erect a prison there. The prison officials com- 
placently agreeing, the people were cozzened into believ- 
ing that this outlay of money would be sufficiently pro- 
ductive to greatly reduce the cost of the maintenance of 
all the prisons of the State and would have a salutary 
effect upon the physique and morals of prisoners serv- 
ing first terms and upon those nearing the time of their 
discharge. 

The first appropriation was made in 1909 and was 
for $350,000. The bill providing for this appropriation 
made it appear that this sum would be sufficient to 
complete the work, but up to the present time more than 
$1,800,000 has been appropriated and more money is 
still demanded. There is at present a demand to get 
$250,000 more, despite the fact that $750,000 is still 
available of the previous appropriations. From the con- 
ception of the scheme until the present time there does 



304 THE BOSS, OR 

not seem to have been any attempt made to give the 
people an honest return for this outlay. 

One wing and a dormitory have been completed. The 
site chosen for these buildings is in a hollow in the land, 
much of which is quicksand. The great prison building 
has settled so that cracks appear in the walls, all of 
the piping is out of alignment and it is only with great 
difficulty that some of the prison machinery can be oper- 
ated. The dormitory, where the guards sleep and where 
the administrative work is conducted, is fortified with 
heavy iron bars, at the windows and heavy doors, but 
the interior walls are fragile and combustible. It is 
possible to kick holes in them and a fire once started 
would find the building an easy prey. The floors are 
of wood instead of concrete. If a fire should start in 
the night when the guards were sleeping there would 
be no chance of escape. This alone makes the work a 
crime that the State should immediately investigate to 
the end that the criminals guilty of it should be punished. 
The site of these two buildings is five feet below the 
surrounding lands. It is in a hollow pit of clay, in which 
is received the drainage *of the hillsides, which forced the 
State to spend many thousands of dollars in drainage. 
Piles driven into the soil sink out of sight and it seems 
impossible to find proper foundations for the heavy struc- 
tures. The contract provides that the ground on which 
the foundation rests shall be solid. 

As a matter of fact one end of the dormitory building 
began settling to an alarming extent and the State had 
to spend $37,000 to level the building. The foundation 
here is quicksand, so it is certain that this expenditure 
will have to be frequently and indefinitely repeated. 

It is difficult to find any explanation for the selection 
of this site, when it is surrounded by a circle of upland 
where solid foundations could have been found. Knowl- 
edge of the dishonesty of the men who permitted this 
work to continue makes it appear likely that their ob- 



THE GOVERNOR 305 

ject was to place the buildings in a location where they 
could not possibly last in order to graft from the money 
that would be constantly needed in repairs and then 
finally to enrich themselves anew by doing the work over. 
If the construction of the new wing was stopped now, 
and there is absolutely no need for it, the present wing 
and dormitory would cost the people of the State at 
least $50,000 a year to keep in repair. The State would 
save money if the present buildings were discarded and 
the work began all over again under the control of hon- 
est and competent officials. This may seem like a dras- 
tic suggestion, but the cost of keeping the present prison 
buildings in repair would pay the interest on a much 
larger amount than it would take to duplicate them on 
another site. 

In order to discover just how this work has been done, 
and what the total theft has amounted to, it would 
be necessary to prove up each item of the work in de- 
tail. I believe this should be done, and in the mean- 
time all work on the new wing should be abandoned ; 
that safe and decent quarters should be provided for the 
guards and that a rigid investigation should be made 
into the circumstances surrounding the granting of the 
contracts and the supervision of the work. 

There has been no apparent sign of any intelligent 
action in connection with the work at the prison. Forty 
thousand dollars was spent to have water piped into 
the prison. Then it was found that the water was unfit 
to use, and was likely to breed disease. Water was un- 
expectedly struck during the excavation work right in 
the rear of the prison and this problem was solved. 

The poor installation of plumbing, pipe fitting, brick 
work and general construction show inferior material 
and workmanship, and under the standard set by the 
specifications should not have been passed or paid for. 
It does not require the services of an expert to see this. 
Any prison official could have discovered it by the most 



306 THE BOSS, OR 

casual reading of the specifications and by the merest 
glance at the work. And yet I procured the services of 
two experts, one of whom is an expert builder, who, under 
the impression that less than $750,000 had been spent 
in the construction of the building declared that there 
had been an overcharge of $75,000. As a matter of 
fact more than $1,000,000 has bein spent, which would 
increase the overcharge to about $325,000. 

The dishonest work has been as conspicuous in small 
matters as in large. According to specifications there 
should have been a trial run of fourteen days for the 
steam plant, but seven days after the engines were put 
in operation the State was compelled to pay money to 
repair them. 

One item was $20 to rebabbit a shoe — 300 per cent, 
more than market price. A new nut was bought for the 
engine at 250 per cent, more than the market price. 

These engines have been running about two years. 
The repairs on them so far have cost $500. A striking 
proof that graft rules this work is given in the fact 
that a representative of the State Architect's office on 
the ground objected to some work which the contractor 
wanted passed as being up to specifications. The con- 
troversy reached the State Architect, who inspected the 
work himself and passed it. 

The first specification provided that the successful con- 
tractor should furnish his own tools and plant for doing 
the work. After the contract was let the successful con- 
tractor was allowed by a change in the specifications to 
charge $75 a day for the use of his tools. Assuming 
the contractor obtaining the contract knew this condition 
he would of course, be in a position to underbid his 
competitors. If, by any chance, one of his competitors 
had received the contract it is not likely he would have 
received this concession. This peculiar method of doing 
work seems to be the rule up to the present time. 

The work now going on was let in two sections, and 



THE GOVERNOR 307 

the contractor appears to be the absolute boss of the situ- 
ation. One contract should have been completed two 
months ago. It is still uncompleted. The other con- 
tract calls for completion November first of this year ; 
it has just been started. The penalty fixed for delay 
is only ten dollars a day. Therefore, it appears that no 
difficulty would be had in cancelling this contract if the 
State finally concludes this ought to be done. 

The first draft of prisoners arrived at this prison on 
February 8, 1911. There are only a few more than 
400 prisoners located in the cell house now; while thzre 
are cells for more than 600. This is another specimen 
of the methods used in managing the prisons of the 
State. 

These two hundred cells, each light and equipped with 
toilet and running water, have been left vacant while 
men are sleeping two in a cell in other prisons and on 
cots strung along the corridors. Six hundred and twenty- 
three can be properly cared for at this prison. More 
would be a menace, because no work can be found 
for them on the farm and any efifort to release them in 
the open would surely result in some general disorder 
and probable escape. 

I have mentioned only a few of the defects in the 
work. I believe that many more can be found of at 
least as grave a character in a searching investigation 
by experts in the various lines. 

Further investigation of the accounts may show that 
at least on one of the contracts a great deal of money 
was paid in excess of the original bid. 
Respectfully submitted, 

Geo. W. Blake. 

Mr. Blake's reports on Auburn and Sing Sing shocked 
the State. We have not the space to print them in this 
book. They should be read. 

The Governor removed Supt. Scott in defiance of the 
Bosses, and instituted Grand Jury proceedings about 



308 THE BOSS, OR 

the corruption in Great Meadow and Sing Sing Prisons. 
As to result, a score of indictments have been found, 
and the rascals are being brought to justice. 

These investigations, and the bringing to trial of these 
offenders, made many enemies for the Governor in and 
out of the Legislature. 



THE GOVERNOR 309 



CHAPTER XLV. 

SULZER, HENNESSY, AND THE ROAD 
GRAFTERS. 

Probably no man played a more important part in the 
administration of Governor Sulzer, than John A. Hen- 
nessy. And perhaps no man knows more than he of the 
many obstacles Mr. Sulzer had to contend with in his 
determination to give the people an honest, a business- 
like, and an economical administration of public affairs. 

Mr. Sulzer's dogged determination to stop graft, and 
to punish the grafters, no matter what their political af- 
filiation or social standing, was the final straw that 
brought about the Governor's removal. 

A grafter, in the eyes of Mr. Sulzer, was a grafter 
be he politically clothed in the robes of Democracy, or 
in the raiment of Republicanism. Mr. Sulzer told Mr. 
Hennessy to get the grafters. Mr. Hennessy replied 
that he would — but it might ruin Mr. Sulzer. The lat- 
ter answered to go ahead — that no band of crooks could 
ruin him. So Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Sulzer began 
their persistent fight to find the trail of the grafters — 
get them — and bring them to justice. The grafters 
threatened the Governor. He stood firm. His superb 
moral courage, in the struggle, challenged the admira- 
tion of every decent citizen in the State. 

One day Mr. Hennessy went to the Executive Cham- 
ber and said : 

^'Governor, no doubt you hear talk to the eflfect that 
my investigations are ruining your administration. If I 
go on Fll get some of your political friends. I think 
too much of you to stand in your light. What shall I 



310 THE BOSS, OR 

do? If you say the word, I will forthwith cease my 
activities, and let matters quietly drop." 

''John," replied the Governor, placing one hand on his 
shoulder, and looking Hennessy squarely in the eye, 
''the grafters are trying to get me ; I want you to get 
them. Never mind about me. I don't care. In the in- 
terests of the taxpayers we must clean up the State and 
drive out the grafters — friend or foe. It must never be 
said that we quit fighting the grafters. I took 
an oath, John, when I became Governor, to do my duty 
as God gave me the light to see the right — and I shall 
do it, though it cost me my office." They shook hands 
and Mr. Hennessy knew the Governor meant it and con- 
tinued his investigations. 

Those who know Sulzer, know that if it had not been 
Blake and Hennessy who were conducting these in- 
vestigations, under Mr. Sulzer's directions, it would have 
been somebody else. In showing up the graft in the 
State prisons, in the State Architect's office, in the State 
canals, in the State highways, and in other departments, 
Governor Sulzer was prompted to do so by naught save 
his sense of public duty, and a sincere desire to protect 
the pockets of the taxpayers. The story of the road 
grafters reads like a romance — amounts to millions of 
dollars — and would fill a volume by itself. As a speci- 
men of what Governor Sulzer uncovered and accom- 
plished, the following report of Mr. Hennessy will to 
a small extent testify. 

HENNESSY'S REPORT ON ROAD GRAFT. 

The work was about 70 per eent. fraudulent and the 

State got 30 cents on the dollar. 
It is for the people of the State nozv to say whether the 

Highway frauds shall be laid bare up to the point 

of getting all the criminals. 
I believe it is now possible to get at the top, and at the 



THE GOVERNOR 311 

top are several high State officials whose enmity to 
Governor Sulzer began when he appointed me to 
run down the graft. 
As these cases develop the electors of New York State 
will learn that the political organization, so-called 
Democratic, captained by Charles F. Murphy in New 
York City, by William F. Fitzpatrick in Buffalo and 
by William H. Kelley in Syracuse, is organized to 
loot the treasury and regards every honest man as 
its enemy. 

NO ONE BETTER THAN I KNOWS THAT HAD THE GOV- 
ERNOR AGREED NOT TO EXECUTE HIS OATH OF OFFICE HE 
WOULD BE TO-DAY UNCHALLENGED IN HIS PLACE AS THE 
EXECUTIVE,, NO MATTER WHAT OTHER BITTERNESS MIGHT 
BE DISPLAYED AGAINST HIS INDEPENDENCE OF BOSS CON- 
TROL. HIS INFLEXIBLE DETERMINATION TO GO AFTER ALL 
THE LOOTERS AND HIS PURPOSE TO BEGIN WITH THE IN- 
DICTMENT OF BART DUNN^ A MEMBER OF THE STATE COM- 
MITTEE FROM TAMMANY HALL, ENDED ALL RELATIONS. 
THEN THE SAVAGERY OF RECENT EVENTS TOOK SHAPE IN A 
CONFERENCE HELD BY CHARLES F. MURPHY. "it's HIS 
LIFE, OR ours/' was THE WAY ONE MURPHY LEADER PUT 

IT. — From Hennessy's report on the Highway Frauds. 

Commissioner Hennessy in his report says: 

"The indictment of Bart Dunn, Tammany Hall mem- 
bers of the Democratic State Committee, and of Will- 
iam H. Whyard, the real Democratic Boss of Rock- 
land County, marks the beginning in the courts of the 
work which Governor Sulzer set out to do four months 
ago. 

'The other men indicted were tools of bigger men in 
the Democratic administration under Governor Dix. 
All the men big and little in the State can be brought 
to trial, and all the Highway frauds big and little un- 
covered. 

"The cases in Rockland County differ in no material 
respect from those in other counties. The work was 



312 THE BOSS, OR 

about 70 per cent, fraudulent and the State got 30 
cents on the dollar. 

"The Rockland County cases were presented to the 
District Attorney there seven weeks ago, but one 
legal knot after another came in the way to delay a 
grand jury investigation. Similar difficulties in legal 
procedure and the necessity for a certain line of 
proof have delayed the presentation of cases in other 
counties. Several of these cases are now ready for 
grand juries. 

As these cases develop the electors of New York 
State will learn that the political organization, so- 
called Democratic, captained by Charles F. Murphy 
in New York City, by William H. Fitzpatrick in Buf- 
falo and by William H. Kelley in Syracuse, is organ- 
ized to loot the treasury and regards every honest man 
as its enemy. 

"It is for the people of the State now to say whether 
the Highway frauds shall be laid bare up to the point 
of getting all the criminals. It is a big job for big 
men and it needs money. 

"Three months ago when Mr. Murphy's legislature 
found the Governor was in earnest in his promise to 
uproot all frauds, Mr. Sulzer's contingent account for 
investigation was cut off and he was left without a 
penny. I was asked by him to investigate highway 
contracts in a State nine times the size of Massachu- 
setts and to do it without a force of trained investi- 
gators and road engineers. A private appeal to a 
dozen men brought small results in money. It seemed 
impossible to interest them in a situation that in- 
volved millions of the public funds. The work as it 
slowly progressed pointed unerringly to a sinister 
story of graft in almost every State department. My 
commission under the Moreland act was broadened 
by the Governor, so that I might take up all the strings 
as we found them. 



THE GOVERNOR 313 

"There is enough of proof to-day outside the High- 
way Department to make it vital that the good citi- 
zenship of the State shall free the government from 
existing conditions, uncover all the grafters and lay 
bare the State Comptroller's office. 

"I have had three road engineers, and, until I could 
no longer pay him, an accountant in the work of dis- 
closing the highway frauds. I have been assisted by 
special investigators from time to time, whenever I 
could afford to pay for this form of work. The small 
staff under my direction has had to confine itself to 
one county at a time, and embarrassed by lack of in- 
formation owing to the theft of necessary records 
from the Highway Department. 

'T have complete cases now in seven counties, splen- 
did testimony to the unselfish work of these road en- 
gineers who in the beginning paid their own mainte- 
nance and other expenses, as I had no funds. Had 
the Legislature not cut from the Supply bill the Gov- 
ernor's item of $30,000 for investigations, I could have 
enlarged my force so as to cover all the counties and 
obtained evidence sufficient to lay bare the entire con- 
spiracy to rob the State of its highways for the en- 
richment of politicians and contractors. 

"Even with what we already have accomplished I 
believe it is now possible to get at the top, and at the 
top are several high State officials whose enmity to 
Governor Sulzer began when he appointed me to run 
down graft. 

"At the top, too, are men whose members of Assem- 
bly voted to sustain the Governor on direct primaries, 
but who joined the impeachment crew when it be- 
came evident four weeks ago that nothing but lack 
of money could stop complete graft exposures in this 
State. 

"A concise story of the Rockland County frauds will 
do to illustrate the conditions in the remainder of the 



314 THE BOSS, OR 

State. The conditions are not better but may be 
worse in other counties. Bart Dunn, Tamimany Hall 
chieftain on the East Side, got a "contract" to lay a 
concrete road four inches deep and less than three 
miles long on top of a fine old macadam road in Rock- 
land County. The concrete was to be screened washed 
gravel, approved sand and cement. The road was to 
cost $31,000. Instead of buying gravel for use in 
making the concrete, Dunn took the old stone belong- 
ing to the State out of the macadam road, mixed it 
with poor sand and an insufficient amount of cement, 
and called it a concrete road. 

"This did not satisfy his appetite for graft. For a 
distance of nearly a mile he did not lay any concrete. 
He simply mixed some sand with the old stone, placed 
it in the road and then covered it with a cement grout 
about one-quarter of an inch thick. Even this rob- 
bery of the State was not sufficient. The concrete 
road was to be four inches thick. The depth of the 
loose stone and concrete found averaged two inches 
in depth for more than two-thirds of the road. Of 
course this road went to pieces before it was finished, 
but notwithstanding the protests of property owners, 
the Department of Highways, through its various of- 
ficials, accepted the road, and paid the contractors in 
full. 

"Perhaps more interesting, as a bit of deviltry in 
road building, is the contract for resurfacing another 
Rockland County road for which William H. Whyard, 
local Democratic boss, and others have been indicted. 
This road was to have a new top three inches deep on 
a surface a little more than four miles long. It was 
one of these "contracts" handed out over night. Some- 
times over the telephone. Notwithstanding the State 
supplied the asphaltic oil for the bituminous top, the 
cost was to be $26,000. After the "contract" was 
signed, it was decided to make the surface four inches 



THE GOVERNOR 315 

deep and an additional $10,000 was allowed in a "sup- 
plementary agreement." 

"Investigations direct by me, after I had twice 
visited the highway, disclosed that the top surface of 
the road instead of being built four inches deep aver- 
aged less than two inches in more than one-half of the 
road. For four-fifths of a mile the contractor did not 
put in a new surface at all, but covered the old mac- 
adam road with a light asphaltic oil. He thus robbed 
the State of all new stone he charged for and was 
paid also for the placing and rolling of this stone as 
well as for the manipulation of asphalt never used 
in the penetration and binding of the "phantom" 
stone. 

"Even with this fraud there was not enough of clear 
profit to go around for everybody. The contract 
called for a road 16 feet wide. In some places the 
road is only 11 feet wide and generally 13}^ feet wide, 
which means a steal of at least 30,000 running feet in 
a road four miles long, each foot 4 inches deep. This 
missing stone was charged and the contractor paid 
for penetrating it with asphalt oil. 

"The remarkable condition here is that the defendant, 
Whyard, otherwise the ^tna Contracting Company, 
built a road half as deep as the specifications de- 
manded, a much narrower road, and was paid $10,000 
in excess of the original contract price. 

Let it be understood that these are not the only 
crooked roads in Rockland. Each road takes a week 
of expert investigation and analysis ; then another 
week of careful preparation for the district attorney. 
With my little staff of three men it was necessary to 
pull up stakes at Rockland if the conspiracy which 
has made a sham of our Highway system was to be 
uncovered. 

"In more than 40 roads examined in 22 counties, we 
have found only three that pass muster, and only one 



316 THE BOSS, OR 

that is clean all the way. There are men now con- 
gratulating themselves that they are immune from 
discovery and prosecution. They assume this because 
we have not been in their counties. We have, how- 
ever, analyzed their contracts, the time in which the 
work was done, and the reports as to material, etc. 
Fraud stands out as clearly as a mountain peak from 
a valley. All we need is the men and the time to get 
the legal evidence. 

"Facts cannot be destroyed in a road less than a 
year old, and many of these roads are not nine months 
old. As we want no indictments where we cannot be 
equally sure of convictions, we have not busied our- 
selves with openly fraudulent roads finished in the 
first year of the Dix administration. No petit jury 
probably would convict on the conflicting testimony 
which would be produced. The frauds of 1911, 1910 
and 1909 in road building will have to go unpunished 
unless some genius as a lawyer proves able to piece 
certain circumstances together and strong enough to 
overcome the volume of defensive testimony. 

''When this road investigation began, Democratic 
leaders warned Governor Sulzer that he would not be 
able to get back to the Highways of Governor 
Hughes' time, and that the net result would be an 
attack on the previous Democratic administration, 
which, they said, was no worse than under Repub- 
lican auspices. 

'T rather think they were correct in their general 
statement. Roads built in 1910 were resurfaced last 
year at great cost. This, of course, proved the 1910 
roads, so repaired, to be badly constructed. The re- 
pairs wiped out all the original evidence that would 
be good in law. More startling, however, is the fact 
that the repairs of most of these roads last year was 
a mere sham. 

'T cannot specify them now as to location, as some 



THE GOVERNOR 317 

are already singled out for Grand Juries, and others 
will be reached, if we get the financial assistance 
necessary in a big job of this kind. I predict, the 
"good roads" of this State built in the last four years 
will need within twenty-four months at least $6,000,000 
for repairs. The best roads in the State, bar a few, 
are those built prior to 1908. Some of them are al- 
most as good as new to-day. The men who built 
them were crowded out of business by the contractors' 
ring. These contractors stood in with crooked divi- 
sion engineers, and honest road builders couldn't 
make enough to feed their horses and maintain their 
plants. The story of this, however, is for another day. 

''As to present conditions, let me say that a new 
road accepted on February 26th of this year is now 
advertised for repairs ; that another road finished this 
year is also on the list for repairs despite a cost of 
$15,000 a mile ; that roads finished in December of 
last year are already full of ruts ; that roads not yet 
completed but let under the Dix administration are a 
joke upon State Government; that the road inspectors 
and engineers are almost as a whole incompetent or 
dishonest, or merely automatons for political bosses. 

"The men put upon the roads by the Democratic 
State administration last year were more than two- 
thirds in number O-K'd by Thomas F. Smith for Tam- 
many, by John F. McCooey, by Fitzpatrick of Buffalo, 
and by Kelley of Syracuse. Some of them were 
barbers, some of them were liquor dealers. Some of 
them had no known vocation. The remainder were 
appointed by members of the State Committee in their 
respective districts. They were ward heelers pure 
and simple. These men named to watch contractors 
were largely nominated in the first place by the con- 
tractors interested. Some of these fellows rarely saw 
the roads, but cheerfully signed estimates every month 



318 THE BOSS, OR 

upon which bills were paid. They certified to the 
arrival of material that never was delivered. 

"I am making only a surface review of the condi- 
tions. In the main office in Albany things are worse 
than on the road. Contracts, as I shall prove, were 
approved before the work was done. So-called 
bidding was the broadest sort of farce. The man who 
gave up readily and freely was the best thought of. 
Such a man could put gravel and sand upon a road 
instead of the imported stone his contract called for. 
Such a man could put decayed stone in a roadbed 
instead of material from a quarry. Such a man could 
take stone fences, bury them in the road, charge for 
rock excavation and then for sub-base. Such a man 
could steal oil from one road and have it delivered 
on another job. The game of give and take was re- 
duced to a well handled if crude proposition. 

The First Deputy Commissioner of Highways told 
the contractors when to pay their campaign contri- 
butions, how they should execute their bonds with 
C. F. Murphy, Jr.'s Bonding Company, how they could 
get along best in the new road combination brought 
to its highest criminal efficiency in the last year of 
the Dix administration. 

All the things I say, and much I cannot reveal, can 
be made clear to all the people if public opinion will force 
the fight on graft. The fight will be one of magnitude, 
and one which will be won only by resolute men amply 
equipped against resourceful enemies. The fight prop- 
erly begun cannot be lost, and is bound to purify our 
political life for a period of years. 

It is a much bigger struggle than the fight against 
Tweed and Samuel J. Tilden's fight against the canal 
ring. In the entrenchments of the thieves will be 
found men who have been elevated to high and sup- 
posedly virtuous office, and men who have to-day the 
confidence of their fellow citizens. 



THE GOVERNOR 319 

"The trail of graft will run from the Comptroller's 
office into the banks and out again. The misuse of 
the excise department will leave, when exposed, a 
trail of shame, and blacken some of the men now 
loudly crying for the life of the Governor. 

"When the story of the canal system is told, the 
highway thefts won't look so big. When the State 
Election Department is fully investigated the people 
will stand aghast in contemplation of the men selected 
to give them pure elections. In my commission from 
Governor Sulzer I have gone into the departments 
named just enough to cut the surface. I had a few 
personally selected volunteers and one or two investi- 
gators to assist me from time to time. I have lacked 
the money to sink the probe, but as I began the work 
the "system" soon took notice. But the grafters never go 
to sleep at the switch. 

"I am simply a small agent, of Governor Sulzer, in the 
fight against graft, yet Tammany senators whisper in 
confidence to other men that I am or have been an em- 
bezzler, and am or have been a taker of graft. The 
head of one department tells in confidence how he will 
make Stilwell appear not half the crook I am. These po- 
litical grafters and character assassins pay their atten- 
tion to me a simple agent of Governor Sulzer — an agent 
bent upon revealing what can be discovered without ade- 
quate organization. Is it any wonder, therefore, that 
they so fiercely attack their own Governor, who, at their 
demand, four times declined to revoke my commission, 
and who declined to stop investigations which would 
lead to State-wide exposure? 

"Governor Sulzer needs no defense from these Tam- 
many charges, but I would be untrue to myself were I 
to pass without comment the most vital point in these 
graft investigations. I offered to efface myself several 
times when men who call themselves leaders in the 
Democratic party warned the Governor that his inves- 



320 THE BOSS, OR 

tigations would wreck the organization. All their enmity 
was aimed first at me and then blazed with fury at Mr. 
Sulzer when he sent for the district attorneys of sev- 
eral counties and outlined the testimony I was gathering. 

"NO ONE BETTER THAN I KNOWS THAT 
HAD THE GOVERNOR AGREED NOT TO EXE- 
CUTE HIS OATH OF OFFICE HE WOULD BE 
TO-DAY UNCHALLENGED IN HIS PLACE AS 
THE EXECUTIVE NO MATTER WHAT OTHER 
BITTERNESS MIGHT BE DISPLAYED AGAINST 
HIS INDEPENDENCE OF BOSS CONTROL. HIS 
INFLEXIBLE DETERMINATION TO GO AFTER 
ALL THE LOOTERS AND HIS PURPOSE TO BE- 
GIN WITH THE INDICTMENT OF BART DUNN, 
A MEMBER OF THE STATE COMMITTEE FROM 
TAMMANY HALL, ENDED ALL RELATIONS. 
THEN THE SAVAGERY OF RECENT EVENTS 
TOOK LIFE IN A CONFERENCE HELD BY 
CHARLES F. MURPHY. "IT'S HIS LIFE, OR 
OURS," WAS THE WAY ONE MURPHY LEADER 
PUT IT." 

JNO. A. HENNESSY. 



THE GOVERNOR 321 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

PRESENTMENT OF THE ROCKLAND COUNTY 
GRAND JURY ON THE HIGHWAY FRAUDS. 

The Grand Jury of the County of Rockland, in session 
at a term of the New York Supreme Court, held in and 
for the County of Rockland on the 18th day of August, 
1913, do present as follows: 

We have had under our consideration a large vol- 
ume of evidence given before us upon a thorough in- 
vestigation in relation to the construction and main- 
tenance of certain State roads in the County of Rock- 
land, under the jurisdiction of the Highway Depart- 
ment of the State of New York; and realizing that 
the great benefits which are intended to be conferred 
upon the people through the construction and main- 
tenance of state roads can only be effected by an hon- 
est and efficient expenditure of the money voted and 
appropriated for that purpose, we deem it our duty to 
call attention to the serious wrongs imposed upon 
the people by this Highway Department of the State 
of New York. 

The evidence adduced convinces us that said High- 
way Department was in a state of absolute disorgan- 
ization, and that no means such as would exist in a 
properly conducted 'business organization, or which 
to the end that the money voted and appropriated, 
even common prudence would dictate, were invoked, 
for the construction and maintenance of State roads 
might be expended so as to obtain the objects intended 
by the people in consenting to the expenditure of such 
money through said Highway Department. 



322 THE BOSS, OR 

The officials under whom said Highway Department 
was conducted at Albany, and upon whose ability, 
efficiency and loyalty to the State the proper construc- 
tion and maintenance of said roads in this county, and 
the proper expenditure of money for that purpose, in 
the main, legally depended, proceeded largely upon 
the theory that said Highway Department was rather 
a quasi-political organization than a great business 
supported by the taxpayers and operated under gov- 
ernmental powers. 

The Highway Commission, charged with important 
duties under the law — duties, which if properly ful- 
filled, would tend in a large measure to protect the 
interests of the people — met infrequently considering 
the volume of business to be transacted, and when 
they did meet, the transaction of their business was 
done in such a manner as to compel the inference that 
said commission was striving rather to exhibit a for- 
mal compliance with the law than to substantially ef- 
fectuate the purposes for which said commission was 
created. 

The higher the official in said Department of High- 
ways the less he actually knew as to whether the 
money paid for the construction and maintenance of 
State roads was being expended in accordance with 
the contracts. One of the lowest grade of employees 
in said Highway Department was the foreman of la- 
borers, and yet under the pernicious conditions exist- 
ing, the foreman of laborers was the only employee 
or official upon whom, according to the evidence be- 
fore us, the responsibility rested of protecting the peo- 
ple in causing the money voted and appropriated for 
that purpose to be properly expended for the mainte- 
nance of State roads in this county. It is patent 
that such a condition could not exist unless the high 
officials of said Highway 'Department at Albany were 
either incompetent or entertained perverted opinions 



THE GOVERNOR ;v323 

as to the fidelity demanded by the State from its 
public officers. 

Said Highway Department was more proficient in 
the dispensation of favors in the form of contracts 
to contractors having political influence, than it was 
in requiring integrity in the execution of such con- 
tracts. Incompetency prevailed therein where abil- 
ity was most necessary. 

A typical illustration of the inefficient and improper 
manner in which said Highway Department was oper- 
ated is as follows : Contracts were formally entered 
into between contractors and the State of New York 
for the performance of work upon State roads and 
the payment of large sums of money therefor, which 
were termed supplemental contracts, meaning con- 
tracts entered into after the original contract had 
been made. These supplemental contracts in many 
instances were made, entered into and signed on or 
about the day that the payment under the sanje was 
made, and long after the time when the work per- 
formed, or as is the fact more often pretended to be 
performed, by the contractors had passed. 

As a result of the above obnoxious conditions in 
said Highway Department, cheats and frauds existed 
to an extent that if a reorganization of the same did 
not take place, and an honest and effective system 
for the protection of the expenditure of the people's 
money inaugurated, the policy of the State of New 
York to construct and maintain State roads would be 
thwarted from its commendable purposes and prosti- 
tuted to subserve venal ends. 

EDWARD D. KEESLER, 

Foreman. 



324 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER XLVn. 
SULZER'S LAST MEETING WITH THE BOSS 

The Governor was insulted, and threatened with de- 
struction, by Murphy during his interviews with the boss 
in February, March and April. Mr. Sulzer knew he 
had reached the parting of the ways. Nevertheless, mu- 
tual friends of the two men still indulged the hope 
that harmony might be restored. It was known 
among the Democratic leaders of the State that there 
was serious friction between the Governor and Mur- 
phy. C. Gordon Reel, superintendent of highways, 
had been removed by the Governor. Hoefer was forced 
out. Col. Joseph F. Scott, superintendent of prisons, had 
also been removed, and the air was full of rumors that 
other removals of Tammany men at the head of 
other departments were to be made. These disquiet- 
ing reports disturbed the Democratic bosses, especially 
those responsible for office-holders as well as those 
through whom important contracts were awarded to 
friends. 

Governor Sulzer attended the Jefferson banquet 
at the Hotel Waldorf, New York City, April 13, given 
by the National Democratic Club. Charles F. Mur- 
phy was present. Governor Sulzer was the principal 
speaker. It was observed that the two men did not 
recognize each other. 

After the Governor had spoken, Norman E. Mack, 
of Bufifalo, came to the. Governor's table to greet him 
and said he was very sorry to know that there was a 
difference between him and Murphy. 

'T should think," suggested Mr. Mack, ''that this 



THE GOVERNOR 325 

trouble could ibe fixed up before it became public and 
a working agreement made between you for the good 
of the party. Will you meet Mr. Murphy after the 
dinner?" the Bufifalo man inquired of the Governor. 

Governor Sulzer replied he was willing, and sug- 
gested that they meet in the cafe downstairs. Mr. 
Mack carried the message to Murphy, who sent back 
word that it was too public a place and wanted t-o 
meet the Governor at his rooms at Delmonico's. Gov- 
ernor Sulzer refused to do this, and proposed to Mr. 
Mack that Mr. Murphy come to his rooms, in the Wal- 
dorf after the banquet was over. 

When the Governor left the dining room and was 
on his way upstairs he met Judge Edward E. McCall 
and former Governor A. E. Spriggs, of Montana, and 
invited them to his rooms. While the three men were 
talking, Mr. Mack arrived and announced that Mr. 
Murphy was in the cafe but did not want to come to 
the Governor's room as newspaper men were there, 
and they would be likely to find out where he went 
if he went upstairs. Mr. Murphy again asked through 
Mack why the Governor could not meet him at Del- 
monico's. 

Governor Sulzer once more declined to go to Delmon- 
ico's, and Mr. Mack went away, but returned soon to 
say that Mr. Murphy had left. 

Judge McCall subsequently called Mr. Murphy up, 
on the telephone, at his home, and urged the Governor 
to meet him there. 

Governor Sulzer reluctantly consented, and finally 
went. He has described what was said as follows : 

"Judge McCall and I got into a taxicab and went to 
Mr. Murphy's residence. It was after midnight and 
Mr. Murphy let us in at the door. We sat in the 
front parlor and talked over the situation at Albany — 
appointments, legislation and so on. Mr. Murphy 



326 THE BOSS, OR 

would agree to nothing I wanted, and I didn't agree to 
anything he wanted. 

"I asked him not to interfere with the trial of Stil- 
well in the senate. I said: 

*' 'What are you going to do about Stilwell?' 

'* 'Stand by him, of course,' replied Mr. Murphy. 
Stilwell will be acquitted. It will only be a three-days' 
wonder. How do you expect a senator to live on 
$1,500 a year? That is only chicken feed.' 

"At this conference," said Mr. Sulzer, *T urged Mr. 
Murphy to let me carry out in good faith the platform 
pledges of the Democratic Party for direct nominations. 
We talked over the bill. I told him there was a strong 
sentiment throughout the state in favor of this legisla- 
tion. He said I did not know what I was talking about, 
that there was no sentiment for direct primaries except 
from a few cranks. 

'T called his attention to the pledge in the platform. 
He said he was opposed to any bill that abolished the 
state convention, and eliminated the party emblem. 

*T said that there could be no honest direct primary 
law unless that were done. He answered that the 
organization would never agree to any bill that did 
it, and that he would see to it that such a bill would 
be overwhelmingly defeated in the legislature. I said 
to him that unless we made good on direct primaries 
we would lose the State. He replied that he would 
attend to that. 

"We again talked over appointments. I said that 
I was being criticised for not filling the two vacancies on 
the Supreme Court Bench. He talked over several 
names that would be agreeable to him, Mulqueen, Gil- 
lespie and others. I told him that I wanted to select the 
very best lawyers I could get, and said again that I 
would make no appointments unless the names were ap- 
proved by the Bar Association. 

"Before we parted that night I warned. Mr. Mur- 



THE GOVERNOR 327 

phy that he would wreck the party and accomplish his 
own destruction if he persisted in shielding grafters 
and violating platform pledges. His angry retort was 
that he wanted investigations stopped ; that I appoint the 
men he named; that if I refused he would destroy me. 

"Every man," said the Governor, *'who has borne the 
weight of a great office like that of the Governor of New 
York will appreciate my position. I wished to keep peace 
with the organization ; I was anxious to avoid a break 
with Murphy. I knew only too well the legislature would 
obey Mr. Murphy's every order, whether given over the 
telephone or in person. I knew the terrible odds against 
me in the fight which I courted when I declined to 
submit to Mr. Murphy's dictation ; when I declined to 
turn my office into an instrument for the corruption 
of government and the debauching of the state. I 
was reluctant to break, but I did it only because it be- 
came impossible to do otherwise, and not betray my oath 
of office, and forfeit every shred of my self-respect. 

"When I returned to Albany after my last interview 
with Mr. Murphy I carefully considered my plight 
and the whole state situation. It was at that time, and 
only at that time, that any thought of resigning my 
office was in my mind. 

"There were three paths for me to travel: to sur- 
render to Murphy and be unmindful to everything ex- 
cept his orders ; to fight for what I believed was right, 
regardless of Murphy, or to resign my office and give 
the people my reasons. 

"It did not take me long to determine not to sur- 
render. I could not do that and maintain my self- 
respect. 

"Could I fight and win? It did not seem possible. 
I knew that Mr. Murphy told the truth when he said 
he could and would block me in the legislature. I 
knew also that every State department was under his 
control, save the few I managed to hold against him. 



328 . THE BOSS, OR 

More than all, I knew from many years' knowledge 
of Murphy methods, that, when desperate, he would 
stop at nothing to thwart me, even to the extent he 
has done, which is not his limit. 

"I thought long and seriously about it all. My im- 
pulse was to fight ; but my knowledge of Murphy's con- 
trol of everything, and the fear in which he was held 
by every legislator and officeholder, made fight seem 
hopeless. 

''I alone would be the victim in the end. I was 
in debt and Murphy knew it. I was without funds to 
fight ; had no power over the legislature ; and Murphy 
knew it. Even friends of good government stood by, 
cynical, offering much criticism but little real help. 

"Then I wrote out and signed my resignation as 
Governor. 

''But as I thought it over it looked cowardly. I tore 
up my resignation. The old determination to fight came 
to me, and I made up my mind that no matter what the 
cost to me personally I would fight for the right, and 
fight hard to the end. 

''And I have fought hard from that moment to the 
present day — how hard is proven by the enemies I have 
made — and the conspiracy they have worked out against 
me. Every agency these enemies could use to destroy 
me has been used. It is a long story — contemptible in 
its meanness." 



THE GOVERNOR 329 



CHAPTER XLVni 
THE DELMONICO CONFERENCE. 

Every time Governor Sulzer spoke for direct pri- 
maries he spoke with a feeUng and an earnestness that 
impressed those who listened to him with the idea 
that he had recently undergone a radical change in his 
opinions. He no longer veiled these opinions with 
equivocal language, but made plain in lucid and force- 
ful English that he was for an honest, thoroughgoing 
direct primary law, because it was the only instru- 
ment by which the people could drive the bosses from 
power and restore popular government at Albany. 

Those who listened to his fervent pleas for a direct 
primary law and denunciations of bosses were not 
aware at the time of his many tribulations resulting 
from the arrogance of the boss. The public gradually 
began to take notice of the fact that a real war had 
at last broken out between the two men, but it was 
ignorant of the events since the beginning of the year, 
which finally led up to and provoked the opening of hos- 
tilities. 

It subsequently developed that it was the Gov- 
ernor's determination to carry the direct primary war 
into the Africa of Tammany, and especially his refusal 
to call off his special investigators from the pursuit of 
grafters that was the direct cause of the notorious Del- 
monico conference held May 20 which lasted all night, 
and where it was finally decreed the Governor must be 
removed. 

By a man who claims to have obtained the names 
of those present from one of the conferees, those 



330 THE BOSS, OR 

who attended were: Charles F. Murphy, Norman E. 
Mack, Edward E. McCall, William H. Fitzpatrick, 
Patrick E. McCabe, Martin H. Glynn, John H. Mc- 
Cooey, Thomas Foley, Robert F. Wagner, James J. 
Frawley and Alfred E. Smith. 

It is said others were present. Certain it is that 
such a conference was held and that it took the first 
steps towards procuring the impeachment of Governor 
Sulzer, who at that time was out on his first tour of 
the state in behalf of the direct primary bill which 
had been defeated at the regular session of the legis- 
lature. The legislature adjourned May 3 and within 
a few days thereafter the Governor issued a call for 
an extraordinary session to meet June 16, its sole 
purpose being to consider the direct primary bill. 

Governor Sulzer addressed the first public meetings 
in Buffalo, May 19. At these gatherings, all of them 
being large and enthusiastic, he vigorously attacked 
the bosses, mentioning by name Charles F. Murphy, 
William H. Fitzpatrick and William Barnes. He also 
set forth the main features of the direct primary bill 
and called upon the people of Erie County to demand 
of William H. Fitzpatrick, the local Tammany boss, 
that he permit his seven assemblymen to vote as their 
constituents wanted them to vote on the primary bill. 

"When the bosses permitted my nomination," he 
said, 'T suppose it was their idea that they could con- 
trol me, and I sometimes think if I were not so well 
informed they would control me. When they found 
out they could not control me they were the "maddest 
men on earth. They say they are going to destroy me, 
but I say to you the only man who can do that is myself. 

These plain, blunt speeches pleased the people but in- 
furiated the Bosses. No Governor had ever dared to 
go before the people and hold the Bosses up to contempt 
in that fashion. 

On or about May 20, Charles F. Murphy and his 



THE GOVERNOR 331 

aides held a council of war at Delmonico's, the pri- 
vate political headquarters of the boss. It was then 
and there resolved to ''get something" on 3ulzer and 
endeavor to have him removed from office, if in the 
meantime he did not cease his attacks on the organiza- 
tion and stop his investigations into the highway, prisons 
and other State departments. As Senator Frawley re- 
marked a few weeks later to former fire chief Croker: 
"Yes, we are going through with this impeachment be- 
cause it is either Sulzer's life or ours." 

It was determined at the conference of Tammany 
leaders first to threaten the Governor with exposure 
of petty offenses and if he did not then take warning, 
to continue the attacks and remove him from office. The 
Frawley committee was made up before the legislature 
adjourned to pry into various matters, and to attempt 
to counteract the Hennessy and Blake investigations into 
the highways and prisons by holding hearings and assail- 
ing the data collected by the investigators. There was no 
intimation at the time that the Governor was to be made 
the subject of inquiry. 

Soon after his return from the speaking tour for 
the direct primary bill, Governor Sulzer began to hear 
from the emissaries of Charles F. Murphy. At first 
the men who called on him pretended to be his friends 
more than they were friends of Murphy. They 
pleaded with him, "for the sake of the party," to cease 
his attacks on Murphy, and especially not to "imperii 
Democratic success" by investigations and making trouble 
over a direct primary law. 

But the Governor convinced all of these messengers 
that he had resolutely made up his mind to stop the 
graft, and had set his face toward the goal of an honest 
primary law and that he would not let up his efforts. 

Then followed another train of Tammany agents 
who were more blunt in their threats. They repeated 
what Murphy had told him in private in March; that 



332 THE BOSS, OR 

the boss ''had something on him," and that it was the 
height of folly for even a Governor to continue fight- 
ing the organization if he did not want to be destroyed. 
Speaking of his experience at this time, Governor Sul- 
zer said : 

"Every agency known to these crooks and political 
conspirators was set in motion. My life was raked 
from the time I was born down to the present day 
by detectives, investigators and various sleuths, with 
a view of finding out something that would injure me. 
Criminals and perjurers were utilized to defame me. I 
was hampered and obstructed in my official duties and 
privately hounded, denounced and even my life threat- 
ened. 

''The first thing the conspirators did in the plot 
to poison the public mind against me was to put out 
that Vermont business. I promptly told the truth 
about the matter and it fell flat. Subsequently I found 
out the paper Curtis gave out was a forgery, and I have 
sworn proofs to that effect. Then came the Philadelphia 
breach of promise frame-up. That also was a fake, and 
fell flat when I told the truth about it." 

Governor Sulzer never saw Murphy after the meet- 
ing on April 13. After the final break, the Governor 
took every opportunity to prove to the people of the 
state that he was no longer consulting the wishes of the 
boss. When he finally resolved to resist Murphy at every 
point he concluded to make the fight against the grafters, 
and for a genuine primary law, the main issues between 
him and the enemies of good government. 



THE GOVERNOR 333 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

THE GOVERNOR'S LAST MESSAGE TO THE 
LEGISLATURE. 

STATE OF NEW YORK. 
Executive Chamber. 

Albany, July 23, 1913. 

To the Legislature: 

The regular session of this legislature convened this 
year on January 1, 1913, and it adjourned on May 3, 
1913. 

Prior to the thirty-day period for the consideration 
of measures by the Executive, the legislature had 
passed and sent to the executive, for his consideration, 
531 bills. Of these, 442 were approved. A mem- 
orandum was filed with 22 of the measures. There 
were recalled 74 bills; and 15 were vetoed with sepa- 
rate veto messages. 

During the thirty-day period the executive had 
under consideration 701 bills. Of these 351 were ap- 
proved ; and 350 were vetoed, with 19 memoranda of 
approval and 51 memoranda of disapproval. 

All told, 793 bills were enacted into laws, out of a 
total of 1,232 bills, passed by the legislature and sub- 
mitted to me for consideration. 

The financial bills passed by the legislature, exclud- 
ing sinking fund and bond interest bills, aggregated a 
total of $55,108,705.25, made up as follows: 

General appropriations $30,236,987.29 

General supply bill • 6,916,922.60 

Special appropriations 17,954,795.36 

I approved $29,825,897.29 of the general appropria- 



334 THE BOSS, OR 

tion bills; $4,178,505.73 of the general supply bills, and 
$13,778,862.21 of the special appropriation bills, mak- 
ing a total of $47,783,265.23. 

The total of financial items and bills which I vetoed 
amount to $7,325,440.02. 

During the regular session, the legislature having 
failed to pass a bill for direct primaries, on May 8, 
1913, I issued a proclamation convening the legislature 
in extraordinary session to commence June 16, 1913. 

This extraordinary session of the legislature was 
called for the purpose of considering the people's bill 
for state-wide direct primaries. It has been in session 
for a few minutes now and then for a period of over 
a month, but has signally failed to pass a state-wide 
direct primary bill, containing provisions which I rec- 
ommended, and which I believe should be on the stat- 
ute books of our state. 

Since the convening of this extraordinary session I 
have sent the following appointments to the senate 
for confirmation : 
To be a Trustee of Cornell University: 

John DeWitt Warner, of New York City, a former 
member of congress, and a well-known lawyer. 
For Public Service Commissioners, Second District: 

William E. Lefftngwell, of Watkins, N. Y., to suc- 
ceed Frank W. Stevens, resigned. 

Mr. Lef^ngwell was formerly a conspicuous member 
of assembly. He is a successful business man and well 
qualified for the position. 

Charles J. Chase, of Croton-on-Hudson, N. Y., to 
succeed Curtis N. Douglas, term expired. 

Mr. Chase has been connected with the New York 
Central Railroad for more than twenty years as a loco- 
motive engineer. He is endorsed by railroad organiza- 
tions, as well as by many distinguished citizens. 
For Commissioner of Labor : 



THE GOVERNOR 335 

James M. Lynch, of Syracuse, N. Y., to succeed 
John Williams, resigned. 

Mr. Lynch is one of the best known labor leaders in 
America. He is the president of the International Ty- 
pographical Union. 

These recommendations and these nominations 
speak for themselves; they are made in the interest 
of the common weal, and I indulge in the hop^e that 
the legislature will consider them on their merits, ere 
the adjournment of this extraordinary session. 

Of course I am aware of the inconvenience imposed 
upon the members of both branches of the legisla- 
ture through the necessity of their attendance at this 
extraordinary session. However, there is no reason now 
why all these matters should not be speedily consid- 
ered and promptly disposed of — one way or the other. 

The legislature must recognize that its continuance 
in session adds largely to the burdens of the taxpayers 
through necessary expense ; and while it is proper that 
the pending matters should receive careful considera- 
tion, it is respectfully suggested in the interest of 
economy, that they be disposed of at the earliest possi- 
ble time, and the Legislature adjourn. 

It is useless to deny that at the present season of 
the year it is extremely difficult to secure the presence 
of a quorum to pass legislation, but I feel confident 
that an announcement by the legislative leaders, 
strictly adhered to, that pending legislation must be 
promptly considered by the votes of all the members, 
will accomplish the desired result; and to that pur- 
pose, I respectfully urge again that the measures rec- 
ommended by me receive immediate consideration. 

With a view of assisting the speedy despatch of 
pending legislative business, and of reducing to a 
minimum the necessary expense of this extraordinary 
session of the legislature, I hereby announce, for the 
information of the members, and all others interested, 



336 THE BOSS, OR 

that I shall recommend to this extraordinary session 
no further legislation. 

For the reasons herein stated, I now earnestly urge 
the prompt consideration of pending measures ; and by 
the senate, the early action upon the appointments I have 
submitted, to the end that the general welfare be pro- 
moted; the convenience of the members conserved, and 
the expenses to the taxpayers reduced to the minimum. 

Wm. Sulzer. 



THE GOVERNOR 387 



CHAPTER L. 

SULZER, MURPHY AND THE PEOPLE OF 
NEW YORK. 

When Sulzer refused to call off the investigations of 
Blake and Hennessy he decreed his doom. Murphy then 
ordered the Tammany tiger in full cry in the greatest 
man hunt of its history. Following the orders of Boss 
Murphy, the Assembly of New York State on Wednes- 
day morning, August 13, 1913, impeached the Cov- 
er. Thereby it proved 'beyond doubt that the Demo- 
cratic party of the State is but a tool of the criminal 
New York City organization. 

Governor Sulzer, now a victim of the greed of the 
grafters and the malice of disappointed corruption had 
stood pre-eminent for honesty. 

It was this reputation that compelled his nomina- 
tion, for the air was then surcharged with currents that 
made imperative the selection of a candidate of good 
fame. It was this that gave him a record plurality, 
large enough to show that not even Tammany treach- 
ery could have beaten him at the polls. 

When he assumed office in January he faced con- 
ditions of singular complexity and peril. He should 
have foreseen that the situation was what is called 
impossible. 

To his everlasting credit be it said that he took 
his stand with the decent, right thinking Demo- 
crats of the State. Tammany, to which he owed some 
allegiance, was and is the greatest combination 
of corrupt politics, corrupt business and commercial- 



338 THE BOSS, OR . 

ized vice in the world, and its expectations were plain. 
Over against it stood the sturdy up-State Democracy, 
demanding from the administration release from the 
domination of bossism and special privilege. 

To serve satisfactorily these utterly antagonistic 
elements would have been beyond the capacity of a 
far more profound statesman than Governor Sulzer. 
Yet in the face of conditions so hopeless, he took of- 
fice so inspired by the popular indorsement and the 
consciousness of his own high purposes that he was 
incapable, at first, of realizing the superhuman magnitude 
of the task he had assumed. 

As a matter of fact, he did achieve many things. In 
compliance with platform pledges, he caused to be 
introduced several excellent progressive measures, 
many of which were passed after serious conflict. 

He had, besides, a group of bills for the reform of 
the New York stock exchange, drafted upon the rec- 
ommendations of the Hughes committee; and these 
were among the first of his projects to attract the 
lightnings of opposition. They were blocked in the 
Senate by the Murphy-Barnes combination, which 
gives bipartisan support to special privilege. But 
Governor Sulzer was able to force them through. 

This victory was won by his exposure of Stilwell, 
a Senatorial bribe-taker. The Senate triumphantly ac- 
quitted its guilty member — a proceeding which is suf- 
ficiently characterized by citing the fact that on the same 
charges Stilwell was convicted in a criminal court and 
sent to prison. 

The most important legislative project which Gov- 
ernor Sulzer undertook was the passage of an effective 
primary act, such as had been pledged in the 
platform upon which he was elected, and, indeed, in 
the other party platforms as well. The bill was 
emasculated by the Murphy-Barnes big partisan combin- 
ation and made in many ways more dangerous than the 



THE GOVERNOR 339 

present law. In this shape it was passed. The Gov- 
ernor vetoed it. The bosses passed it again, and he ve- 
toed it again. 

Up to this point, it should be observed, while the 
Governor and Murphy had encounters over legislation, 
there was no open rupture. The gang contented itself 
with striking down such of his bills as it could reach; 
but it was all regarded as legitimate political warfare. 
The time was coming when the rules of this kind of 
maneuvering were to be flung aside and a campaign of 
political extermination begun. 

The issue was graft and patronage. In the gen- 
eral matter of filling the offices Tammany was, 
of course, aggressive in its demands; but it was only 
when the appointment of the heads of State depart- 
ments arose that the conflict became acute. 

Boss Murphy, for reasons best known to himself, 
selected two important posts as his own, and made 
the appointments to them a personal issue with the 
Governor. The men he insisted upon naming were 
the Commissioner of Highways and the Superintendent 
of Prisons. 

Fortunately for the public interest, Governor 
Sulzer had in his possession overwhelming proof of 
corruption in the department of prisons and of bad 
character in the superintendent. He likewise had, as 
the result of investigation, evidence of wholesale graft 
in the department of highways. The facts were specific 
and conclusive, and the trail they marked led straight 
back to Tammany, directly involving men in the inner 
circle surrounding Boss Murphy. 

Perfectly aware of these conditions. Murphy de- 
manded the retention of the Superintendent of Prisons. 
The Governor refused. The boss added the additional 
demand that the Commissioner of the corrupt highways 
department be undisturbed; Governor Sulzer declined, 
and gave his reasons. 



340 THE BOSS, OR 

In the face of Murphy's ultimatum, Governor Sulzer 
dismissed the two accused officials, and thereupon was 
notified that he would be driven from public life. 

There has never 'been any doubt about the cause 
of the rupture. War was begun upon the Governor 
because he refused to turn over to Tammany certain 
departments which expend vast sums of public money, 
including $50,000,000 for roads, in which proof of 
criminality had already been uncovered. 

But the Governor's determination to give the people an 
honest administration held a more serious menace to 
Tammany than was involved in this reform of the 
prisons and highways departments. For several 
months the Comptroller of the State had been in se- 
clusion, suffering from physical and mental break- 
down. 

The office was conducted by a deputy who is sub- 
servient to Tammany. But if the Comptroller were 
to die, Governor Sulzer would have the appointment of 
a successor, and would thus come into control of the 
department which audits the expenditures and holds the 
records of contract manipulation and corruption. 

Under these conditions, Murphy's fear and hatred of 
the Governor were natural, and no one knew better than 
the threatened Executive that he was facing bitter 
assault. Indeed, he had exact and authoritative in- 
formation. 

Again and again emissaries of Murphy called upon 
him and diplomatically sought to cajole or frighten him. 
They warned him of attacks in preparation and even 
laid before him copies of ''exposures" tliat were to be 
made concerning his life. 

They showed him a paper alleging that he had been ac- 
cused of perjury in a suit for attorney's fees, which he 
brought in Vermont nearly thirty years ago, and inti- 
mated that the document would never see the light if 
he showed a disposition to "be good." When he re- 



THE GOVERNOR 



341 



HOW MURPHY "IMPEACHED'* SULZER 




From the Albany Knickerbocker Press 

A DRUNKEN, DISGRACEFUL PROCEEDING. 



342 THE BOSS, OR 

jected these overtures the charges were published; and 
while they were easily shown to be baseless fabrica- 
tions and the accusing signatures forgeries, the infamous 
work of undermining his reputation had begun. 

Meanwhile, he resumed his efforts to redeem the plat- 
form pledge for an honest primary act. With the Mur- 
phy threats hanging over his head, he called an extra 
session of the Legislature to enact such a measure, al- 
though he knew that by so doing he was putting a weapon 
in the hands of the boss. 

Murphy was not slow to seize the advantage. He sum- 
moned to his private headquarters in Delmonico's a group 
of the most powerful Tammany chiefs. Present at the 
conference were also several Tammany judges — some 
from the high courts — together zuith the Murphy leaders 
of the Legislature and Lieutenant-Governor Glynn. 

Then cmd there it zuas decided that Sulzer's defiance 
called for drastic punishment. "We must get him or he'll 
get us'' was the conclusion; and it was determined that 
the Tammany-owned Legislature should he ordered to 
drive out of oMce the man whose purpose zvas a menace 
to every high corruptionist. 

The results of this conference are familiar to the public. 
With ruthless pertinacity Tammany harried the man 
it condemned to destruction. The Governor's appoint- 
ments were contemptuously flung aside by the Legisla- 
ture, and every obstacle put in the way of his adminis- 
tration. Plot after plot was hatched against him. News- 
papers were influenced to denounce him. The Murphy 
T>egislature cut off the appropriation for, the Executive 
office. The Governor had to pay for postage stamps 
out of his own pocket. Murphy's "orders" were: "Get 
the Governor" ; and his minions to execute the "orders" 
had to paralyze the State. 

But these harassments were less disreputable than the 
personal assaults directed against him. When the forged 
perjury charges had done their contemptible work a 



THE GOVERNOR 343 

breach-of-promise case was devised to discredit him. 

A young woman in Philadelphia was employed to en- 
ter suit against the Governor. It was a "frame-up." Her 
attorney was a man having close relations with a corpora- 
tion from which Murphy holds huge contracts. In order 
to create the widest possible scandal, it was planned to 
arrest Governor Sulzer when he passed through Phila- 
delphia on his way to the celebration at Gettysburg. 

This shady scheme served to muddy the waters of the 
controversy for a few weeks longer, until Murphy was 
ready for his biggest plan of revenge — the impeachment. 
The basis of this was the charge that the Governor's 
statement of campaign expenses was incomplete. 

Wall street, still smarting under the reform laws the 
Governor had put through, gladly turned to Tam- 
many. Using every device to give the accusations their 
blackest possible hue, the Frawley committee named by 
Murphy conducted a long investigation, and finally rec- 
ommended the impeachment ordered by the boss. 

The action of the Assembly was unconstitutional, in 
that it dealt with matters not mentioned in the call for 
the extra session. In spite of this lack of authority and 
the flimsy nature of the charges, the resolution was 
jammed through — amid disgraceful drunken scenes — 
they say by bribery. 

Murphy's obvious and avowed purpose was to stop 
Sulzer's graft hunt, and to obtain control of those State 
departments which award vast contracts and audit the 
expenditures of public moneys. His methods were the 
most desperate that avarice and hatred could conceive. 
He used even the power of the Legislature to strike down 
an honest executive chosen by the largest plurality ever 
given to an incumbent of the office and to replace him 
with a man he knew was *'safe," 

Governor Sulzer's motives are likewise transparent. 
When he was confronted with overwhelming proof of 
rank corruption, traceable to the chiefs of Tammany 



344 THE BOSS, OR 

Hall, he determined to prevent/ if he could, the further 
looting of the State. 

Mr. Sulzer had come face to face at last with a clear- 
cut issue between right and wrong, and the understand- 
ing of it has gone down to the very bedrock of his Teu- 
tonic nature. One conviction possessed him — that he 
stood for what was honest and decent ; his enemies for 
what is dishonest and corrupt. And against that con- 
viction he was determined that the gates of hell should 
not prevail. 

He was without funds. He was without effective news- 
paper support. All the special-privilege organs in New 
York were openly aiding Murphy. Hearst stood with 
Tammany in wanting Glynn as Governor. Even the 
New York World, once his ally, professed to believe 
that the alleged failure of his campaign committee to ac- 
count for a few dollars involved a principle more vital 
than the surrender of the entire government of the State 
to the forces of graft and corruption. 

He was without strong advisers. The reformers who 
urged him to fight ran away when the fight began. 

No man, clearly, ever had such poverty of equipment 
for a fight against such overwhelming odds. Yet for 
months, with ever-lessening support, attacked from front 
and rear by unprincipled and relentless enemies, he stood 
unflinchingly against the corruptionists and for the honest 
policies to which he was pledged. 

His assailants have attacked, in turn, his professional, 
his personal, and his official integrity. Every charge 
brought against him was reduced to its ugliest interpre- 
tation ; every one was presented to him in secret before 
being made public in the hope of coercing him into com- 
promise for his own safety. But he resolutely refused. 
He said he had done no wrong. His courage was sub- 
lime. 

Through it all he never flinched. He has suffered 
treachery without complaint and brutality without re- 



THE GOVERNOR 345 

prisal. When his enemies touched the core of his con- 
victions, they found him adamant. Knowing fully 
their power, knowing the mercilessness of their 
hatred, he stood upon the one principle of official honesty. 
There can be no higher proof that Governor Sulzer was 
absolutely certain he was doing his duty and clearly 
conscious of personal and official rectitude. 

There was never a more unequal fight — on one side 
the confederated powers of corrupt bossism and special 
privilege ; on the other side one man, armed only with 
a single idea — the righteousness of his Cause. Yet there 
never was a contest so clearly one-sided, viewed from 
the standpoint of morality and decency, for there was 
not a single sound argument advanced in behalf of the 
interests that sought to destroy this man — this brave man 
— this honest man — this man Sulzer. 



346 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LI. 

THE BOSSES' REASONS FOR THE GOVERNOR'S 

REMOVAL 

Of the citizens who followed the events leading up to 
the removal of Governor Sulzer, doubtless many knew it 
was the sudden infliction of a spectacular revenge. 

But it was, in fact, merely a necessary step toward the 
culmination of a great conspiracy, the object of which 
was to murder popular government and seize control of 
the State's affairs for corrupt Tammany, 

This atrocious plot, engineered by Boss Murphy in 
behalf of his criminal organization and his special-privi- 
lege backers, was marked throughout by familiar meth- 
ods and commonplace villainies. But it was unique in one 
respect — that there was not one person in the whole 
country who believed that a single honest motive ani- 
mated the procedure. 

Nor can there be found a reputable citizen who will 
seriously contend that there was a single participant in 
the audacious scheme who was moved by patriotism, or 
civic spirit, or anything save the basest impulses of 
crooked politics. 

From Murphy himself, notorious as the leader of the 
world's greatest criminal organization, down to Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Glynn, the members of the Assembly 
and others of his underlings, there was not one who ex- 
liibited a redeeming sense of unselfishness or desire to 
promote the public welfare. 

That this condition was unique a glance at history will 
show. There have been political crimes in all ages and 
all countries, but we recall none which was so desperate 



THE GOVERNOR 347 

or so disreputable that the perpetrators could not enter 
the plea that at least their aim was the common good. 

When Brutus thrust his assassin's knife into Cossar 
he struck, he said, because he loved Rome. The blood- 
crazed mobs of the French revolution, jeering their vic- 
tims to the reeking guillotine, were inspired with a pas- 
sion for liberty. Benedict Arnold believed that what 
his countrymen called treason was the truest loyalty, 
which would perpetuate the blessings of monarchy and 
avert the disasters of republicanism. 

But in this Tammany conspiracy every motive was 
transparently evil. No one had the temerity to assert that 
there was any honest or patriotic purpose back of it. 
Even those who cheered on the pursuit of Governor 
Sulzer admitted that his assailants were public enemies, 
and that their aim was to acquire corrupt domination of 
the State government. 

Thus the New York World, which was giving the most 
effective aid to Murphy's campaign for the removal of 
the Governor, at the same time gave this characterization 
of the gang that committed the assault: 

"The World agrees with Colonel Watterson, that not 
one of the rogues Who voted ''impeachment" cares a jill 
of beans about the 'misdemeanors' of William Sulzer. 
"Murphy ordered the impeachment as he would order 
a beefsteak at Delmonico's, and a servile Assembly voted 
the impeachment with more obsequiousness than a 
French waiter would show to a grand duke. 

"The impeachment in itself is the most startling 
revelation of the degeneration of government that New 
York has ever known. A sordid, corrupt boss at one end 
of a telephone wire tells his half-drunken and depraved 
creatures in the Assembly to impeach the Governor of 
the State, and they respond like a trained dog. The As- 
sembly obeyed Murphy with the same airy indifference 
with which the gunmen obeyed Becker when they were 
told to 'get' Rosenthal." 



348 THE BOSS, OR 

This is mild language compared to that habitually used 
concerning Murphy by some of the New York news- 
papers. Hearst's papers had been Governor Sulzer's 
strongest supporters, but in the real fight they had been 
strangely indifferent. One explanation for this change 
may be that Mr. Hearst wanted the Governor to re- 
move Mayor Gaynor; so that he was not in a very good 
position, to denounce ^lurphy's efforts to oust an official 
elected by the people. 

But we shall not argue further that Tammany and its 
purposes were vicious. Every well-informed citizen must 
know what no one has the hardihood to deny. The ques- 
tion which the though ful American will ask himself is 
this : How can it be possible for a gang of political free- 
booters to seize the government of a great State in full 
view of the people, although their intent is palpably 
criminal? 

The explanation, dear reader, is simple. Tammany 
was putting through its conspiracy by the strict applica- 
tion of the glorious principles of "constitutional govern- 
ment." Mr. Murphy was demonstrating how admirable 
are the ''orderly processes of the fundamental law," as 
opposed to such harebrained inventions as the recall, with 
its dependence upon the "gusty passions of the mob." 

Under the Constitution of the State of New York, one 
more than half of the membership of the xA.ssembly can, 
upon any pretext, impeach the Governt)r. It should be 
remarked here that the act of impeachment was a farce 
— not a trial. But it operated, according to the interpre- 
tation of the Tammany Boss, to remove the. Governor 
elected by the people and substitute one more satisfactory 
to Boss Murphy. 

The Assembly majority, then, which for years has been 
controlled absolutely either by the Republican or the 
Democratic boss, or by the two in concert, can impeach 
the Governor, and thereby — although weeks or months 



THE GOVERNOR 349 

may elapse before the charges are tried — can paralyze the 
official power of the chief executive and replace him with 
a serviceable instrument of a corrupt machine. 

This was exactly the conservative and highly constitu- 
tional course followed by Murphy. First he named a 
legislative committee to investigate the Governor on 
charges he supplied. The evidence gathered by Tam- 
many spies and heelers was heard, and impeachment was 
quickly recommended. The Assembly majority — some 
members forced into action only by severe pressure — 
how much has not yet been proven — carried out its part 
of the orders. And thereupon, still with profound re- 
gard to the Constitution, the Murphy forces seized the 
Governorship. The procedure is justly characterized by 
the legislative bureau of the national Progressive party 
as follows : 

"A small band of political enemies of the Governor 
were able, by use of their political power, to gather 
evidence, to present it to their own judgment, and, 
without any opportunity for the presentation of 
the other side to condemn their enemy as guilty of 
the crimes which they themselves had alleged against 
him, and, according to their claim, to remove him 
from office. 

"Is it not strange that the "conservative" up- 
holders of "invisible government," which can exe- 
cute its fiat within twenty-four hours, decry any 
change in the forms of government whereby the 
"hasty judgment" of a majority of the voters might 
be executed within the brief period of two or three 
months ?" 
But there should be a clear understanding of Tam- 
many's corrupt motives, as well as of its despicable 
methods. 

It is obvious, first, that Tammany, the most no- 
torious of the agencies of special privilege, would not have 
nominated this man unless in the belief that it could con- 



350 THE BOSS, OR 

trol him. Therefore Murphy felt that Sulzer was 
an infinitely worse man than he would be if every 
charge in the articles of impeachment were proved to the 
hilt, for, compared with the treason he was expected to 
commit or allow, the acts of which he is accused are 
little faults that could be made against any public man 
during the past fifty years. 

But there is not even a pretense that the impeachment 
was brought because of the Governor's alleged irregulari- 
ties in the campaign statement. Those merely provided 
the weapons of assassination. 

The purpose, of which there was no concealment, was 
threefold. First, to wrest from an unexpectedly honest 
executive State departments controlling vast patronage, 
the award of huge contracts and the auditing of expendi- 
tures ; second, to prevent his forcing the passage of an ef- 
fective primary law, the enactment of which would be the 
death warrant .of the Bosses: and, third, to head 
off Sulzer's pursuit of the grafters and the exposure of 
millions of graft ; and to inflict such punishment upon 
the Governor as would deter future public officials elected 
by the machine from daring to exhibit like proclivities 
toward decency and independence. 

The real controversy, therefore, was not as to whether 
Governor Sulzer's campaign accounts were regular. It 
was as to whether corrupt bossism and special privilege 
shall by "constitutional" methods strangle popular gov- 
ernment in New York State and perpetuate a system of 
misrule and public plundering. 



THE GOVERNOR 351 



CHAPTER LH. 

THE PARADOX OF SULZER; THE TRIUMPH 

OF DUTY. 

Boss Murphy's jeering prophecy that under the very 
first assault from Tammany Governor Sulzer would 
crumple like a piece of wet paper proved false. Even the 
supreme exhibition of the criminal machine's malign 
power — the forcing of the Legislature to commit high 
treason against the Empire State — did not break him 
down. 

Governor Sulzer fought on — a knight of stainless vir- 
tue — defying the hosts of evil — a militant crusader wield- 
ing the sword of righteousness against the powers of 
darkness. 

Mr. Sulzer is a warrior. In his make-up there is ever 
the spark of militancy. He would bring about the 
brotherhood of man by fighting for the right. He is 
the resolute champion of desperate causes. He had the 
qualities needed for the emergency, and is the first Gov- 
ernor of New York State who has been able to with- 
stand, and morally triumph over, the combined forces of 
corrupt bossism and special privilege. 

We have tried to explain the splendid paradox of 
Sulzer. His public and private acts traduced, his errors 
relentlessly exposed, brought to the bar of a hostile court 
of impeachment, he stood immovable. It was because the 
issue was clearly revealed to him. He saw that for 
the time being he alone stood between his State and its 
looters ; that to yield or compromise would be ultimate 
dishonor. Stolidly, without whimpering and witljout 



3o2 THE BOSS, OR 

fury, he planted his feet upon that rock, and there he 
stood to the end. 

The less venomous of his critics have said that he took 
his stand because it seemed he might win political capital. 
But to maintain this theory, they must ignore the facts. 
For six months he was subjected to the secret urgeings, 
cajolements and concealed threats of professed friends, 
who advised him to yield just enough to secure his own 
safety; and he refused. 

The brutal assaults he endured were never unexpected. 
He had the chance to prevent the publication of charges 
that he had been accused of perjury, the bringing of the 
breach of promise suit and the pressing of the impeach- 
ment. Yet the enemy found Wm. Sulzer strong — a man 
of iron. 

These charges were ''framed-up." But the supreme 
test was to come in a situation more trying than many 
public men had to face. 

The next charge was that his campaign donations 
were larger than appeared in his return. The Truth is 
that the Governor handled no campaign moneys, and that 
he signed the statement drawn up by trusted friends 
when they told him it was correct. 

Besides every dollar received by Mr. Sulzer for cam- 
paign purposes, directly or indirectly, was turned over to 
the Wilson-Sulzer Campaign Committee, or given to John 
H. Delaney and Charles F. Murphy for the Democratic 
State Committee. Not one dollar was kept by Mr. Sul- 
zer, or used to buy stock. These matters are now known. 
The fact is the Wilson-Sulzer Campaign Committee did 
account for the money it received, and Delaney and Mur- 
phy did not account for the money given them. Sulzer 
could have saved his office at any time had he been will- 
ing to compromise with Tammany. Sulzer refused to 
compromise with Treason. That is the paradox of Sul- 
zer — the Triumph of Duty — and nothing excels it, as an 
exhibition of moral courage, in all the history of America. 



THE GOVERNOR 353 

There have been few more tragical episodes in our 
public life. But it will only be as the people come, to be 
better informed as to the facts that they will realize 
how heavy was the pressure that Governor Sulzer with- 
stood and how great was his courage. 

He has his weaknesses, and discusses them frankly. 
He has always been in debt. Whenever he had a little 
money, it went from him rapidly. In a district where 
Tammany leaders have grown rich upon tribute wrung 
from the unfortunate, he has remained poor, and what 
funds he had were always at the service of importunate 
constituents. 

There are, and no doubt will be, many opinions of 
William Sulzer's wisdom, capacity, and sincerity. But 
we think that the public records of America can be 
searched without finding a demonstration of steadfast- 
ness to duty, in the teeth of certain destruction, more 
heroic, more convincing, and more sublime than that 
which he has given to the people of the world. 



354 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LHL 
AN ANALYSIS OF THE SULZER CASE. 

Only one President of the United States has ever 
faced trial under impeachment charges. Impeachment of 
executive officers in England became obsolete a hun- 
dred years ago. Out of many hundreds of men v^ho have 
served as elected Governors of our States, only one has 
ever been duly convicted. This was the case of Governor 
David Butler, of Nebraska, in the year 1871. He w^as 
accused of an improper use of State money — the diver- 
sion of a small amount of the public funds to his own 
private benefit — and was found guilty and removed from 
office. 

It has always been recognized that extreme hostility 
between a high executive officer and a legislature might 
arrive at the point where, for political reasons, the law- 
making body would persuade itself that its fight against 
a Governor ought to culminate in impeachment proceed- 
ings. 

Probably no intelligent student of history to-day be- 
lieves that Andrew Johnson should have been con- 
victed in 1868 ; yet so strong were the political an- 
tagonisms of that day that there was lackiiig only one 
vote of the necessary two-thirds to have removed him 
from office. There would have been better ground for 
impeaching James Buchanan, and there was much talk 
of it; but it would have been politically impossible un- 
less at the very end of his term. Both Johnson and 
Buchanan, like Governor Sulzer, were honorable men, 
so that there could have been no grounds of impeach- 



THE GOVERNOR 355 

ment except those that we term "political" in the broad 
sense. 

Governors Versus Legislatures 

A President or a Governor represents the great body 
of the people by whose votes he has won his high office. 
Most members of a legislative body are individually 
obscure; and at best they represent small local 
constituencies. A legislature is often dominated by a po- 
litical machine or boss, and where it is engaged in a fight 
against the Governor its course may be wholly directed 
by some political hand outside of the body itself. A 
Governor is a more responsible representative of the 
people of the State than the legislature. This ap- 
plies particularly to States where the party system 
prevails, and where the legislature is controlled by a Re- 
publican or Democratic machine organization. In a 
contest, therefore, between a Governor and a legislature, 
the chances are public opinion will side with the 
Governor. The administration of Governor Sulzer, of 
New York, began the 1st day of January, 1913, and 
it was marked from the beginning by a fierce and con- 
tinuous struggle between him and the Bosses. In this 
contest, with its almost innumerable points at issue, the 
Governor was invariably right, and the Bosses were 
invariably wrong. 

Mr. Sulzer and the Larger Tammany. 

The Legislature, in both houses, was controlled 
by Tammany, which means the personal mas- 
tery of Charles F. Murphy, the head of Tammany. 
Governor Sulzer had been a Democrat, more or less 
friendly to Tammany, for a great many years, and in his 
younger days he was in the Legislature and served as the 
Speaker of the body which brought impeachment charges 



356 THE BOSS, OR 

against him. But until he resigned in order to be sworn 
in as Governor, Mr. Sulzer had been a member of the 
House of Representatives at Washington for some eigh- 
teen years. He had not participated actively in the po- 
litical afifairs of the State of New York for a long time, 
while, on the other hand, Tammany had not con- 
cerned itself about Government matters at Wash- 
ington. In Sulzer's young days, Tammany's aim had 
been to control New York City affairs, and to be influen- 
tial at Albany only for the sake of controlling measures 
relating to matters in the metropolis. But as 
the State of New York had lately expanded its public 
activities, spending hundreds of millions upon canals. 
State roads, new prisons, and other important work, 
while also regulating public-utility corporations as well 
as insurance companies and banks, Tammany had aspired 
to control the situation at Albany, not merely for the 
sake of New York City affairs, but because it wished to 
acquire many State offices and to come into hand-and- 
glove relationship with the expenditure of enormous 
sums of State money. A larger Tammany had come into 
being. 

How Sulzer Became Governor. 

These expanded aspirations of Tammany had been 
surprisingly realized under the weak, and Murphy con- 
trolled, administration of Governor Dix. Mr. Murphy 
would gladly have renominated Dix, but the up-State 
anti-Murphy Democrats would have bolted, and would 
have supported the Progressive candidate, Mr. Straus. 
The only possible compromise between Tammany, and 
the up-State Democratic reformers, seemed to be upon 
Congressman Sulzer, who had no enemies, was known to 
be popular, and stood in high esteem with all factions 
of his party. 

There was no break between Sulzer and Murphy 



THE GOVERNOR 357 

until after the Governor refused to be a catspaw for 
Murphy. Sulzer had made broadcast promises to do 
his duty as Governor, and serve the people regardless 
of personal consequences. The Tammany men evidently 
regarded all this as a part of William Sulzer's campaign 
manner. The people of the State took Sulzer seriously 
and they were inclined to trust him, and more than 
ready to give him a fair chance. He had talked gener- 
alities ; but he came down to practical problems in a very 
few days after his inauguration. 

The Beginnings of a Bitter War 

Troubles came rapidly. The Murphy gang desired to 
control Sulzer's appointments to the important positions, 
while Sulzer was determined to choose high-class men, 
and clean out the prevailing rottenness of the State de- 
partments. Governor Sulzer found the State institutions 
suffering under scandalous conditions of maladminis- 
tration, and made swift but valuable preliminary inves- 
tigations. He made remarkably good appointments, and 
found the State Senate disposed to block them under 
orders emanating from the chief of Tammany Hall. The 
fight came to its climax in the Governor's determination 
to enact a State wide primary law, in order to secure the 
nomination of high officials by direct popular action. The 
political machines of both old parties were determined 
to keep the State conventions for the nomination of Gov- 
ernor and leading State officers, because the Governor, 
through his appointing power, has his hand upon the 
vast interests involved in the State highway department, 
the canal department, the prisons department, the regu- 
lation of railway and other public-service corporations, 
and the supervision of banks and insurance companies. 
Great things were at stake. 



358 THE BOSS, OR 

The Great Point at Issue. 

The control of State conventions to nominate the Gov- 
ernor and State ticket is essential in New York to the 
two party machines, and to the special interests that 
finance and support both of these machines. The poli- 
ticians, who had always been opposed to the primary 
system, offered to concede everything to the Governor if 
he would allow them to keep the State conventions. He 
would not compromise with them, and vetoed the pri- 
mary-election bills that they passed through both houses 
and sent up for his approval. If Governor Sulzer had 
been willing to let up on the grafters, and allow the poli- 
ticians to have a primary-election law that retained the 
State convention, nothing would have been heard of any 
impeachment proceedings against him. 

Assailed for Virtues, Not for Faults 

Governor Sulzer showed high courage and great virtue 
as Governor of the State of New York during the brief 
period of his incumbency; and it is further true that 
the bitterness of the attacks upon him which led up to the 
impeachment were precisely in proportion to his exer- 
cise of political courage and public virtue in the dis- 
charge of his duties. However great or small his mis- 
doings, his only fault in the eyes of those who decreed 
his downfall lies in the fact that he had been, from 
their standpoint, to use their own word, an ''impossible" 
Governor; that is to say, it had been impossible to get 
him to obey "Charlie" Murphy, whether by threatenings 
or cajolings. 

The Stormy Special Session 

The Legislature had adjourned on May 3, having re- 
fused to pass the Governor's Statewide primary bill that 



THE GOVERNOR 359 

the Democratic platform had promised the people, and 
that Governor Sulzer demanded. Although there was 
little hope of getting any reversal of its action, never- 
theless, Governor Sulzer called a special session, and set 
June 16 for its beginning. It took courage to do this. 

The Governor took the stump and attempted to bring 
popular pressure to bear upon members of the Legisla- 
ture. But Murphy himself was obdurate, and the Mur- 
phy control remained unshaken. Under the State con- 
stitution, a legislature called in special session may only 
consider subjects expressly laid before it by the Governor. 
The special session rejected again the Governor's pri- 
mary-election bill, and sent up to him again for his veto 
its own bill, so framed as to permit the machines to 
control the situation through their conventions. 

The fight became every day more bitter, and the Gov- 
ernor's attacks upon Murphy had by this time gone so 
far as to preclude all hope of reconciliation or com- 
promise. The Governor was determined to win for the 
people, and the Tammany boss in turn saw no way of 
escape except, to destroy the Governor. 

Trying to ''Get" Sulzer. 

Sulzer was a People's Governor. No influence in- 
imical to the people could control him, and the Tammany 
leaders, and the powerful interests behind them, deter- 
mined to impeach him in order to get him out of the way. 
A mere majority vote of the lower branch of the Legis- 
lature was all that was needed to start proceedings. This 
majority was in the absolute control of Tammany. It 
was the theory of the Tammany lawyers that, under the 
Constitution of New York, the beginning of such pro- 
ceedings would summarily suspend the Governor from 
his office and put the Lieutenant-Governor in his place 
with full and unrestricted authority as Governor. At that 
time the Tammany machine had not decided what kind 



360 THE BOSS, OR 

of charges they would bring against the Governor. At- 
tempts were made to find him guilty of some impropriety 
in a law case thirty years ago. That fell flat. In this 
matter he was completely exonerated. A breach of prom- 
ise suit was then "framed up." That fell flat, and on 
its face was absurd, because it related to flimsy affairs 
ten years ago. 

The Investigation of "J^^'' Frawley. 

Finally Murphy started his investigating committee 
to "frame-up" charges in impeachment. The chairman 
of this committee was a Tammany Senator, generally 
known among political people as "Jim" Frawley. It be- 
gan its work in July, and the Legislature for weeks did 
little but mark time, adjoining and occasionally reas- 
sembling while Frawley summoned witnesses. Behind 
this Frawley Committee was a masterful guidance, sup- 
ported by unlimited resources, and controlled by motives 
of self-preservation stimulated to the utmost. 

Attempts were made to show that the Governor had 
tried to influence Assemblymen and Senators to obey 
their party platform pledges and vote for a direct-pri- 
mary bill by his attitude toward the various measures 
in which they were individually interested. Such a 
charge, of course must work both ways. Members of 
the Legislature had also taken oaths of office, and are 
also liable to removal. The Governor could with much 
greater propriety ask them to support a public measure, 
like the Statewide primary bill, than they could ask 
him to affix his signature to the scores of spe- 
cial measures that they hcd put through the Legislature 
by log-rolling and trading among themselves. 

t 

A Weak Point Found at Last. 
Governor Sulzer refused to recognize the validity of 



THE GOVERNOR 361 

this legislative investigation. The Legislature would 
meet in regular session in January, and it could then do 
business upon its own initiative. The Constitution 
says that in sessions specially called by the Governor, 
he shall have the sole initiative as regards topics for con- 
sideration. In this contention the Governor was right 
both morally and legally. 

All the charges brought against the Governor up to a 
certain time were undoubtedly frivolous. But finally a 
new line of attack was discovered. The committee began 
to investigate the Governor's personal and family affairs, 
and the report of campaign expenditures. Under the 
law, every candidate, whether elected or defeated, must 
within a few days after the election file a report of 
moneys used during his campaign. 

If the Governor at this time had issued a full and com- 
plete statement of all the facts, it is doubtful if the Mur- 
phy Court would have dared remove him. It is known 
now that most of the money donated to Mr. Sulzer for 
his campaign was given to Murphy for the Democratic 
State Committee, and that the Democratic State Com- 
mittee did not account for the same. 

However, the Governor issued a brief statement, say- 
ing that the return of campaign receipts and expendi- 
tures had been prepared by others, and certified to by 
himself in the belief that it was correct. This and Mr. 
Sulzer's long record of unquestioned personal integrity 
and truthfulness were thought by his friends and law- 
yers to be a sufficient answer to the charges of Mur- 
phy made through the Frawley Committee. Had 
the Governor, however, at that critical time taken the 
people into his confidence and told them the truth, 
as he did in his letter to Colonel Theodore Roose- 
velt; and then more fully in his campaign speeches 
in the Municipal election ; and later under oath in the 
John Doe proceedings — the case of Murphy would have 



362 THE BOSS, OR 

fallen flat — and the Governor would have triumphed over 
his enemies. 

The Condemnation by Frawley 

The Frawley committee presented its report to the 
Legislature on the night of August 11th. Their docu- 
ment, which was made rather extended and formidable, 
could be simmered down to the one point that Governor 
Sulzer had not filed a correct return of his election re- 
ceipts. This charge was embroidered with all kinds of 
accusations of theft and perjury, and of attempt to pre- 
vent witnesses from testifying before the Frawley 
Committee. The accusation that Governor Sulzer had 
favored legislation to incorporate the New York Stock 
Exchange, with a motive of influencing the stock market, 
was so ridiculous that it is hard to understand how any 
member of the Legislature could have kept a straight 
face while promulgating such tomfoolery. 

Some Bearings Upon the Case. 

Before passing judgment upon Governor Sulzer as to 
his reticence at this time the reader should bear several 
things in mind. In the first place, the campaign for Gov- 
ernor of New York in 1912 was not based in any sense 
upon the use of money. There were three principal can- 
didates — namely, Sulzer (Democratic), Oscar Straus 
(Progressive), and Job Hedges (Republican). The 
voters were interested in the Presidential as well as in 
the State campaign, and were not brought info the vot- 
ings booths by expenditure of money on behalf of the 
candidates for Governor. 

Mr. Sulzer was fairly and honorably elected. In the 
second place, it was well known that Mr. Sulzer was am- 
bitious to make a fine record on high public grounds. He 
was too good a politician, and to deeply versed in po- 



THE GOVERNOR 363 

litical history, to have supposed for a moment that 
he could report only a part of his campaign re 
ceipts without having the matter brought to light 
at some future time in such a way as to embarrass his 
political career. Everything in Sulzer's record goes to 
show that political success is a much stronger motive with 
him than money-making. On the face of things, 
therefore, it is natural to believe that Governor Sulzer 
had not done the things which his accusers set forth, 
and besides it is clear that there was nothing in the 
alleged charges that furnished proper ground for im- 
peachment. Judge Cullen so held on the trial. 

A Novel Kind of a Charge 

It was not charged that he had won his seat as Gov- 
ernor by a corrupt expenditure of money. The charge 
against him was a wholly novel one, and without pre- 
cedent in the field of politics or of public morals. The 
o'bject of laws requiring the filing of campaign accounts 
had been to check the bribing of voters, or the lavish 
and unrestrained use of money to influence elections and 
bring about political results. Tammany's charges against 
Sulzer, however, took the novel form that the Governor 
did not spend very much money, and that he failed to 
give back to his friends certain sums which they privately 
sent to him for his own use. The facts as they finally 
came out show that Mr. Sulzer gave these moneys to 
John H. Delaney, and to Charles F. Murphy, for the 
Democratic State Committee. The chief object of the 
law, is to give publicity to campaign expenditures. If 
Delaney and Murphy gave the money to the State Com- 
mittee, that committee should have reported it. 

Making up the Indictment. 

The Legislature proceeded rapidly — but most brazenly 



364 THE BOSS, OR 

and disorderly. Upon the presentation of the report, ab- 
sentee members of the Assembly were hurriedly brought 
to Albany by the Bosses, in order to vote in favor of the 
charges. On August 13 — early in the morning — amid 
drunken and disgraceful scenes of riot and disorder — 
the vote was taken. 

The roll-call showed seventy-nine votes in favor of 
impeachment and forty-five against. Seven Republicans 
voted ''aye," and about half of those voting ''no" were 
Democrats. Half of the Republicans were absent and did 
not act. The Assembly has 150 members, and the vote 
was taken at five o'clock in the morning, after an all day 
and an all night session, the delay bemg caused by the 
necessity of influencing a majority of all the members to 
vote ''aye." Thus seventy-six votes were necessary to 
bring the impeachment charges, and seventy-nine af- 
firmative votes were recorded on the roll-call. The 
formal charges had already been prepared behind the 
scenes. The resolution was finally jammed through the 
Assembly by the power of the Bosses and the pressure 
of the special interests amid the most vulvar and dis- 
graceful scenes in the history of the State Legislature. 
Charges of bribery were freely made. 

Rival Governors and a Critical Dispute. 

As soon as the Bosses had determined upon their 
course of action a matter of the utmost importance arose 
at once. They contended that the decision of the Assem- 
bly suspended the Governor from office and put in his 
place the Lieutenant-Governor. The kept New York 
newspapers jumped at this same conclusion in editorials 
which even ridiculed the opposite contention. The Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, Mr. Glynn, believed himself entitled at 
once to exercise all the prerogatives of Governor of 
New York, and undertook to do so. Governor Sulzer 



THE GOVERNOR 365 

showed determination to hold his place, and his lawyers 
supported his view as to his rights, while counseling 
peaceable proceedings and a prompt resort to the courts 
for an interpretation of the Constitution. 

Principles at Stake. 

A somewhat shocking ignorance of the whole subject 
in its broad bearing was exhibited, especially by some of 
the metropolitan newspapers. Andrew Johnson's author- 
ity as President was never interrupted for a moment by 
his impeachment trial in 1868. There is no difference be- 
tween suspension from the office of Governor and abso- 
lute removal, excepting that a suspension might not ex- 
tend through the entire elective term. A hostile ma- 
jority in a legislative assembly could at any moment 
trump up impeachment charges against the Governor, 
upon any pretext, however flimsy, and the other branch 
of the Legislature would be obliged to fix a date and pro- 
ceed with the trial. The trial committee appointed by 
the lower house could protract the proceedings for a 
long time by their manner of marshaling evidence and 
making arguments. This would be a very easy way to 
throw a disliked Governor out of office, in the interest of 
a Lieutenant-Governor who would act in accordance with 
the wishes of the conspirators, if preferring charges in- 
volved instant removal. 

It must be obvious that a Governor, elected by the 
votes of the people, should exercise his authority until 
removed from office by due process. The mere filing of 
charges by a majority in the Assembly constitutes no pro- 
cess at all. The only penalty for conviction by the court, 
after due trial of impeachment charges, is removal from 
office. It is preposterous in the highest degree to take the 
ground that the mere formulating of charges by one 
house, which has not even involved a preliminary process 
by an impartial body, cor.ld remove the State's chief 



366 THE BOSS, OR 

magistrate from the office which the people gave him. 
That nobody knew what was law and custom in such a 
crisis is chiefly due to the fact that the impeachment of 
high executive officers is virtually an obsolete practice — 
and the Sulzer case will be the last in this country. The 
people will soon have the recall in every State. The Sul- 
zer conspiracy has made that inevitable. 

Too Eager Support for Tammany. 

Hidden behind the efforts to get rid of Governor Sulzer 
were various private interests, greedy to have conditions 
established under which their schemes might have better 
hope of prospering. The impeachment proceedings were 
obviously contrary to the provisions of the Constitution 
which limit the Legislature's initiative in an extra ses- 
sion. The whole business was the result of an audacious 
and wicked conspiracy. Its eager support by certain New 
York kept newspapers was pitiable in its sophistries, in its 
hypocrisies, and in its revelation of the well-nigh fatal 
power of the forces of "invisible government" that are 
engaged in a life-and-death struggle for combined mas- 
tery of the affairs of the State of New York. These 
kept papers continued to assert, day by day, that there 
could be no shadow of a doubt as to the meaning of the 
New York constitution, and that Lieutenant-Governor 
Glynn — the Murphy factotum and puppet — had the 
most unquestionable title to exercise all the functions of 
government. 

The Impartial View. 

Yet no intelligent and careful person could possibly 
read the constitution and examine the facts, from the 
standpoint of an impartial student, without seeing that 
the weight of reason and common sense lay with Gov- 
ernor Sulzer's contention, while the literal text of the 



THE GOVERNOR 367 

constitution was more favorable to the contention of 
Sulzer than to that of Glynn and Tammany. It was ob- 
vious, however, that Glynn, instead of trying to seize and 
exercise the functions of the Governorship, should merely 
have presented his demand, and upon refusal to have his 
claims accepted should have had mandamus proceedings 
brought in the courts to determine the points at issue. 
The kept newspapers attempted to make it appear that 
Governor Sulzer was a usurper in remaining in the office 
to which he had been elected. This was a ridiculous in- 
version of principles, because it was obviously his duty 
to continue to serve under his oath of office until the 
courts had shown that a majority of the Assembly, in 
an extra session, had the power to suspend him^. Gov- 
ernor Sulzer was not merely right in endeavoring to keep 
possession of his office, but he would have been recreant 
and censurable if he had meekly abandoned his post prior 
to a decision as to the meaning of the constitution in 
several important respects. His offer to accept a judicial 
decision was enough. 

The State as a whole was somewhat dazed by this rapid 
movement of events. Mr. Sulzer had amicably offered to 
Mr. Glynn to refer the questions involved to the courts 
to be immediately settled. Mr. Glynn did not dare to 
face the courts, and had peremptorily refused. As we 
have already said, nothing whatever had happened which 
would legally have justified Governor Sulzer in abandon- 
ing a post the duties of which he had sworn to per- 
form. All the legal presumptions were in favor of a 
Governor who had not been tried for anything, but had 
been merely assailed by an aggregation of enemies justly 
regarded as the worst and most corrupt band of political 
cutthroats in any portion of the civilized world. 

The Struggling Forces in Politics. 

We have discussed the whole situation here, at some 



368 THE BOSS, OR 

length, because its merely local aspects are overshadowed 
by its larger significance. It is an episode in the con- 
tinuous struggle now going on in this country against 
corruption and rascality in politics. Tammany Hall — in 
control at Albany and in more or less perfect agreement 
with certain of the managers of the Republican machine 
— constitutes the worst and most desperate element in 
that combination of selfish and evil interests that tries to 
dominate both national parties. 

Governor Sulzer's strength consisted'in his determina- 
tion to be a good Governor, in spite of all pressure to 
the contrary. He had been relentlessly pursued because 
his enemies considered him a menace to the organization. 
Quite regardless of all that they may say against Mr. 
Sulzer, he is, without doubt, the very best man now in 
the public life of America, and incomparably superior 
to all of his opponents in merit and in title to public 
esteem. No man in all our history ever showed more 
manhood, more courage, and more fidelity to duty, in 
trying to refonn existing evils and governmental abuses 
than Wm. Sulzer — and he fell a victim to the cause of 
honest government — but the blood of the martyrs is the 
seed of the Cause — and the Cause of honest government 
lives. 



THE GOVERNOR 369 



CHAPTER LIV. 

GOVERNOR SULZER'S FLAT DENIAL OF FRAW- 
LEY CHARGES THAT HE MADE PERSONAL 
USE OF CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS OR 
SPECULATED IN STOCKS. 

The Governor's Bomb-like Declaration That He Is 
Innocent — Did Not Know Brokers — Never Had 
an Account with Fuller and Gray or Boyer 
and Griswold — Denies All Speculation. 

(From the New York Times, August 12, 1913.) 

Governor Sulzer, after a conference with his lawyers, 
issued the following statement containing emphatic de- 
nials of the charges of the Frawley Committee. 

Probably the most important of these assertions was 
the one that he had not used campaign contributions for 
personal use. He also denied that he had speculated in 
Wall Street or used any money given him for the cam- 
paign to buy stocks. 

From the beginning of the so-called revelations of the 
Frawley Committee the Governor has promised a reply 
when he had become familiar with the transactions with 
which his name had been connected. 

Governor Sulzer's denials of all the charges 
made by the committee will, it is believed, put a new 
aspect on the case and make it necessary for the com- 
mittee to revise its report or gather new evidence if it 
hopes to make out a prima facie case of impeachment. 

The Governor's statement is as follows : 

"In view of the fact that the Frawley Committee 
is about to file its report of the investigation it 



370 THE BOSS, OR 

has been making, I am advised that it would be un- 
wise for me at this time to make any detailed state- 
ment in reply to the matters that have been brought 
to the attention of that committee, but having prom- 
ised that I could furnish the press a statement, in 
fulfillment of that promise, I make the following 
reply to the matters that I am informed have been 
brought before such committee: 

"I deny that I used campaign contributions for 
personal use. 

"I deny that I speculated in Wall Street or used 
money contributed for campaign purposes to buy 
stocks either in my own name or otherwise. 

"I never had an account with Fuller and Gray, or 
Boyer and Griswold. I never heard of these firms; 
do not know the members, and knew nothing about 
the transactions with these firms, testified to before 
the Frawley Committee, until recently threatened 
with exposure, and the alleged transactions were 
brought to my attention by the Frawley Committee. 

"The stock matter with Harris and Fuller was not 
a speculative account, but a loan account of long 
standing, made upon stocks as collateral, which 
stocks had been acquired and paid for years before 
my nomination for the office of Governor, and from 
other sources than Harris and Fuller. 

"Certain checks given to me for campaign pur- 
. poses were deposited to my personal account, and 
thereafter I paid the amount of said checks to the 
Campaign Committee. 

"In filing my statement of receipts and disburse- 
ments with the Secretary of State, I relied upon in- 
formation furnished me by the persons in imme- 
diate charge of my campaign, and in whom I had, 
and still have, the most implicit confidence, and I 
believed the statement furnished by them to me, at 
the time, to be true." 



THE GOVERNOR 371 



CHAPTER LV. 

GOVERNOR SULZER'S REPLY TO MARTIN 

H. GLYNN REFUSING TO SURRENDER 

THE GOVERNORSHIP. 

State of New York — Executive Chamber. 

August 15, 1913. 
Hon. Martin H. Glynn, 
Lieutenant Governor, 
Albany, N. Y. 
Sir: 

Yours of August 15 demanding that I surrender 
to you as Acting Governor, the use, possession 
and occupancy of the Executive Chamber and offices ; 
and that I Hkewise surrender to you the Ex- 
ecutive Privy Seal of the State of New York; and also 
all books, papers, records and documents in said Cham- 
ber or offices, or elsewhere in my charge, possession or 
custody, relating to or in any way connected with or 
pertaining to the Executive Department, received. 

In response thereto I decline to recognize you as Act- 
ing Governor of the State ; and decline to deliver to you 
the use, possession and occupancy of the Executive 
Chamber and offices ; or in any way to comply with 
the demands and requests in your letter. 

I shall continue to exercise and discharge the Con- 
stitutional duties of the Governor of the State of New 
York ; first, among other reasons, because I am ad- 
vised that the Assembly at its present Extraordinary 
session possessed, and possesses, no power or author- 
ity to prefer articles of impeachment ; and secondly, be- 
cause the Lieutenant Governor of the State is not au- 
thorized to act as Governor in case of the impeachment 
of the Governor, unless such impeachment is sustained. 



372 THE BOSS, OR 

For the purpose of preventing any unseemly struggle, 
I suggest that counsel for the Lieutenant Governor, and 
for myself, agree upon a method of submitting the ques- 
tion to the courts for decision ; and for that purpose, 
that extraordinary sessions of the courts be forthwith 
called, in order that a speedy determination may be had. 

Respectfully, 

WM. SULZER, 

State of New York — Executive Chamber. 
Hon. Martin H. Glynn, 
Lieutenant Governor, 
Albany, N. Y. 
Sir: 

Your communication of Friday night, refusing my 
suggestion that counsel agree upon a method of submit- 
ting to the courts the question as to whether the presen- 
tation of the charges against me deprives me of the right, 
and absolves me from the duty, of continuing to dis- 
charge the duties of the office to which the people have 
elected me, or whether it is your right and duty to act 
as Governor pending the trial of such charges, received. 
There is no suggestion that you should barter away 
any of the functions attached to the office of Lieutenant 
Governor, but simply that we seek a determination of 
what your and my rights and duties are, at the present 
juncture. 

Your statement that *'the entire matter is now in the 
highest court of the State — the Court of Impeachment," 
I suggest to you is very inaccurate. The, Court of Im- 
peachment will not convene until the 18th of September. 
That Court is not to determine who is to discharge the 
duties of Governor pending the trial of the charges pre- 
sented to it, and of course, could not, in any event, de- 
termine that question before it convenes. 

Whatever the result of the charges against me may 



THE GOVERNOR 373 

be, it is certain that future trouble and litigation will 
arise, growing out of your acts and mine, and it was to 
prevent, as far as possible, such future trouble, and to 
avoid the spectacle of two persons claiming to act as 
Governor of this great State at the same time, that I 
made the suggestion that counsel for you and for myself 
endeavor to agree upon some method of presenting the 
question, as to who should act as Governor until the de- 
cision and determination of the charges against me, to 
the courts at the earliest possible moment, and that we 
abide by the law as it should be determined by the 
courts, not by counsel, and I regret that my efforts in 
that behalf are not to have your co-operation. 

Respectfully, 

WM. SULZER. 



374 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LVI. 
WHO GOT THE MONEY? 

The Frawley Committee charged that Governor Sulzer 
omitted the following moneys from the campaign state- 
ment, viz. : * 
•™^ Jacob Schifif, $2,500. 

Abraham I. Elkus, $500. 

William F. McCombs, $500. 

Henry Alorgenthau, $1,000. 

Theodore W. Myers, $1,000. 

John Lynn, $500. 

Lyman A. Spaulding, $100. 

Edward F. O'Dwyer, $100. 

John W. Cox, $300. 

Frank Y. Strauss, $1,000. 

John T. Dooling, $1,000. 

Allan Ryan, $10,000. 

Now, what are the facts ? The truth is Mr. Sulzer did 
not keep one dollar of this money. The truth is every 
dollar of this money — and more besides — he gave to 
John H. Delany, and to Charles F. Murphy, for the 
Democratic State Committee. This is the sworn testi- 
mony in the John Doe Proceedings — and it has never 
been contradicted — and it never will he. ■' 



THE GOVERNOR 375 



CHAPTER LVn. 

COL. HENRY WATTERSON'S LEADING EDITOR- 
IAL IN THE LOUISVILLE COURIER 
JOURNAL. 

''Collapse of Self-government In New York a Ver- 
itable Victory for Crime." 

(From the Louisville Courier-Journal, August 23, 1913.) 

That the people of New York are incapable of self- 
government — especially the people of the city which dom- 
inates the state of New York — has long been the belief 
of observant and thoughtful onlookers. 

Life is safer among the feudists of the mountains of 
Kentucky than it is in the Borough of Manhattan. Liv- 
ing is less fuddled in the Bluegrass than the Bronx. 
Even the scrub politicians who sometimes work into 
places of emolument and honor here are a trifle cleaner 
and less ravenous than the wolves who there prowl 
at all hours of the day and night between the purlieus 
of the great white way and the legislative red lights in 
the Capitol at Albany. 

Judge Herrick talks loftily of ''preserving the dignity 
of the commonwealth." Alack, the day ! It has no 
dignity to preserve. Its dignity was thrown to the dogs 
years agone. Not one of the rogues who voted "im- 
peachment" cares a hill o' beans about the "misdemean- 
ors" of Wm. Sulzer. The court which tries him will 
be a mock court, a majority foresworn. Justice, pat- 
riotism, and truth have fled to brutish beasts, leaving 
graft and grafters to fight over the loot and to aid 
one another in corrupt succession, the people looking 
on impotent and dazed. 



376 THE BOSS, OR 

The opportunities for stealing are so ever-present and 
easy — the rewards of theft so enormous — the Hkeli- 
hood of punishment is so sHght ! 

The pubHc debt of the city of New York rivals the 
national debt. We read of the Walpole regime in Eng- 
land with a kind of wonder. It was not a flea bite by 
comparison with the system of pillage which holds New 
York in a grip from which there seems no escape. Go 
where one may he encounters its agents and stum- 
bles over its engineries. Scratch a politician, whatever 
label he wears, and you find a scamp. Things are every 
whit as bad as they were under Tweed. They were 
amateurs in those days. A part of their plan was to en- 
joy life. Wine, woman and song had seats at their 
tables. Now they are professionals. Addition, division 
and silence are ranged about the board where Fisk said 
''the woodbine twineth." No nonsense; just the firm 
hand, the cold stare, and, where need be the legend, 
"dead men tell no tales." 

Poor William Sulzer! What siren voice of honest 
government could have lured him to battle on the off 
side of a stream having no bridges, his line of retreat 
leading through the enemy's country right into the deadly 
ambuscades and yawning rifle pits of Tammany Hall and 
Wall Street? One can well believe he did not wrongfully 
use a dollar; that the case against him is a "frame-up"; 
even that, like the dog in the fable, he was merely caught 
in bad company. Did he not know that Tammany was 
pollution, and Wall Street a house of prostitution? And, 
knowing the Indians were on the trail — that proof re- 
quiring explanation existed — had he had a spoonful oi 
common sense it would have warned him betimes. 

His efforts for honest government will plead for him. 
But they will plead in vain. Just as they white-washed 
Stilwell and Cohalan so will they impeach him. 

Nothing will suffice to save William Sulzer if he were 
as guiltless as a lamb. Tammany has doomed him. 



THE GOVERNOR 377 

It is a veritable victory for crime. The private mistake 
^if mistake it was — of a man who was trying to do 
right is made the fulcrum from which a gang of grafters 
are enabled to remove an obstruction to their orgy of 
pillage. It is here that proof of the incapacity of the 
people of New York for self-government comes in. They 
are so at sea — so mis-advised by conflicting counsels — 
that they tumble about and over themselves like so 
much wreckage. They are perpetually ofif the banks and 
in a fog. They lack the wit to make their way to shore 
and to find some common ground. Their newspapers 
tell them nothing. They merely increase the thickness 
of the weather. 

To be sure these newspapers proclaim their own in- 
famy. Yet they continue to appear with regularity and 
efifrontery that goes far to substantiate the doctrine of 
total depravity and establishes the fact that the people of 
New York are incapable of self-government. 



378 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LVni. 

HONESTY FIRST MARK OF WILLIAM SULZER 

Leading Editorial in Albany Knickerbocker Press, Au- 
gust 12, by Frank W. Clark, Managing Editor. 

Governor William Sulzer is a child of nature. He has 
the enthusiasm of a boy. His heart is great and open. 
He has trusted mankind because he has faith in and sym- 
pathy for humanity. His personal faith in friends has 
made it easy for unscrupulous persons to win his con- 
fidence wholly and implicitly, to play upon his heart 
strings, to lure him to unwise frankness and open con- 
fession of his private afifairs. It is such men as these 
that have led Sulzer into traps. The Judas Iscariots of 
Tammany have won his confidence and have then be- 
trayed him to their politically vile master. 

There are no instances of baser treachery in the his- 
tory of politics in the nation than the treasons of men 
whom William Sulzer so thoroughly trusted that he 
would have shed his lifeblood for them. This shameful 
phase of the tremendous conspiracy which is being laid 
to grab the government of the greatest state in the union 
for the benefit and enrichment of the most corrupt po- 
litical organization of modern history will all be laid 
before the people of New York before WilHam Sulzer 
finishes his fight for right and for justice. 

Governor Sulzer has proofs that from the moment 
that Charles F. Murphy at the Syracuse state conven- 
tion consented to his nomination for Governor Mr. Mur- 
phy's personal spies have dogged his heels. They have 
searched his life history. They have invented base lies 
about his past life. They have stolen from his house- 



THE GOVERNOR 379 

hold and from his office in the executive chamber private 
papers and valuable records. Nor have they stopped 
there. Personal belongings of Mrs. William Sulzer — 
a noble woman whose sufferings in these times can be 
imagined — including jewelry which she prized most 
highly for its associations, have been ruthlessly taken 
away. 

Had William Sulzer been a less trusting man he would 
have discovered before he took the oath of office as 
Governor that the intention of Tammany Hall was to 
use him as its pawn, or failing to make of him a ready 
tool, to destroy him. Governor Sulzer, in spite of his 
human failings, and with full knowledge of personal 
consequences, made up his mind some weeks ago to sac- 
rifice himself for the people of the state of New York. 
He has said, and he meant it, and he repeats it now, that 
he does not care what shall become of William Sulzer 
personally. He will not compromise with Tammany — 
with treason. He has offered himself as a sacrifice upon 
the altar of good government as an instrument of the 
people in the war of the honest portion of New York 
state's electorate against official and unofficial graft and 
corruption. 

There is not a dishonest hair in the head of William 
Sulzer. Had William Sulzer been a dishonest man his 
many years in congress would have seen him a million- 
aire. Had he been a dishonest man the luxuries which 
Charles F. Murphy enjoys at Good Ground would not 
have been denied to William Sulzer. William Sulzer 
has always been pressed hard financially. He has de- 
voted himself much to ideals and little to practical busi- 
ness affairs. Through carelessness, but not through dis- 
honesty, the financial affairs of William Sulzer have in 
the past become entangled. But the people of the state 
of New York know that he is an honest man. In the 
hysteria of the present clamor for his crucifixion let it l^e 
understood by the people of the state that if they permit 



380 THE BOSS, OR 

his political destruction at this time, if by breach of law 
Tammany is permitted to remove him from office, there 
will be created in American history a real martyr for 
whom future generations will erect lasting monuments. 

It is perhaps a good thing for the state of New York 
that the venomous Tammany is carrying its fight so far 
and with such high handed treason, for whatever may 
be the result of the present battle, in the end only good 
can come. It is too late for a truce. 

If William Sulzer had been less stubborn in his fight 
for honest government, Tammany would not be attack- 
ing him. Tammany's present attack was made because it 
believed that through despicable and cowardly assaults 
of the Frawley committee it had built up a circumstan- 
tial case against William Sulzer which would caiise a re- 
vulsion of feeling against him on the part of all of the 
people of New York state. Tammany believed that Air. 
Sulzer would be left standing alone in the Governor's 
office, a friendless and dishonored man. 

It was Tammany's plan to plunge its already guilty 
knife into the political heart of a (Jeserted human wreck. 
Had there been more of thought and less of hysteria on 
the part of the press of the state in the last few days 
Tammany would not dare to move upon the capitol at 
Albany with a threat of impeachment proceedings, and 
the Frawley committee would be skulking in the byways. 

It sometimes requires an overwhelming crisis to bring 
out of a man the bigness that is in him. It was a crisis 
of such magnitude that made Abraham Lincoln the sa- 
vior of the nation. There are indications at the present 
crisis that his solemn obligations to the people of the 
state will make of William Sulzer a capable and efficient 
instrument for the delivery of the state for all time from 
the clutches of professional plunderers of the public 
treasury and the rule of political bosses who are the part- 
ners of shady business and compose the "invisible govern- 
ment." 



THE GOVERNOR 



381 



IMPEACHING SULZER 




^i^j-t'f^TVve/i- g^r^:^-,.^..^ '^- 



From the /Ubany Knickerbocker Press 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE SYSTEAI. 



382 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LIX. 

THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE OR FOURTEENTH 

STREET. 

Leading Editorial in the Nezv York American, 
July 29, 1913. 

The fight between Murphy and the Governor of New 
York — savage and relentless — presents a crisis as serious 
and menacing as the Empire State has known within a 
century. 

Suppose that Murphy and Tammany Hall should pre- 
vail to destroy the Governor of New York for the simple 
reason that the Democratic Chief Executive had sin- 
cerely and fearlessly advocated the right of the people 
of New York to vote individually in direct primaries. 

What would be the effect of such an unholy triumph? 

It would minify and depreciate the power and author- 
ity of the Governor of New York now and hereafter. 

It would magnify and glorify the power and prestige 
of Tammany and Tammany's Boss now and hereafter. 

It would degrade the State. It would dignify the Boss 
and the Machine. 

It would make it easier for every subsequent boss to 
win. 

It zvould make it easier for every subsequent demo- 
cratic Governor to lose. 

Since the days of Samuel J. Tilden no democratic 
Governor has ever fought Tammany in so vital a cause 
of good government, or burned his bridges so fearlessly 
behind him in the fight as brave Wm. Sulzer. 

If the Tammany boss and the Tammany machine 
should mass its forces of criticism and -abuse and virulent 
slander, and break the Governor's influence and destroy 



THE GOVERNOR 383 

his repute just when it is being used for the public good, 
then two things are evident. 

No other Governor is likely to dare the wrath of so 
deadly and destroying a political organization in the fu- 
ture affairs of the state. 

And the baneful influence and power of Tammany and 
Murphy to-day will be doubled and quadrupled for the 
future. 

It is a fact that just now Governor Sulzer is fighting as 
just and righteous a vital battle for the people as any 
Governor has fought before him. It is a fact that Tam- 
many and Alurphy, with all the long evil record of graft 
and bossism behind them, are making the effort of their 
lives to destroy the Governor of New York, personally 
and officially, because he is fighting the people's fight 
against the grafters and the Tammany machine. 

And it does seem evident that every good citizen — or 
every decent citizen — should in this fight, at least, stand 
whole-hearted and wholehanded behind the Governor and 
the people against the boss and the machine. 



384 



THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LX. 

THE ASSEMBLY ROLL CALL— THE RECORD OF 

DISHONOR. 

The Tammany Assemblymen Who Voted To Impeach 

Governor Sulzer. 



Frederick S. Burr, Kings 
Laverne P. Butts, Otsego 
James C. Campbell, New 

York 
Charles J. Carroll, New 

York 
Raymond B. Carver, New 

York 
Thomas B. Caughlan, New 

York 
Marc W. Cole, Orleans 
Saivatore A. Cottillo, New 

York 
Cornelius J. Cronin, Kings 
Louis A. Cuvillier, New 

York 
Stephen G. Daley, Onon- 
daga 
Karl S. Deitz, Kings 
George E. Dennen, Kings 
Thomas F. Denny, New 

York 
Charles D. Donohue, New 

York 
John Dorst, Jr., Erie 
Joseph H. Esquirol, Kings 
Stephen A. Fallon, Suffolk 



Daniel F. Farrell, Kings 
Joseph V. Fitzgerald, Erie 
James J. Garvey, Kings 
George Geoghan, Erie 
Mark Goldberg, New York 
Abram Greenberg, New 

York 
Wm. Pinkney Hamilton, 

Jr., Kings 
Ernest E. L. Hammer, New 

York 
Harry Heyman, Kings 
Thomas L. Ingram, Kings 
Edward D. Jackson, Erie 
Thomas Kane, New York 
John A. Kelly, Dutchess 
John J. Kelly, Kings 
Joseph D. Kelly, New York 
Patrick J. Kelly, Onondaga 
John Kerrigan, New York 
Owen M. Kiernan, New 

York 
David H. Knott, New York 
Thomas J. Lane, New York 
Jesse P. Larrimer, Kings 
Aaron J. Levy, New York 
David C. Lewis, New York 



THE GOVERNOR 



385 



Tracy P. Madden, West- 
chester 
Thomas B. Maloney, Nassau 
Martin G. McCue, New York 
Eugene L. McCoUum, Niag- 
ara 
Minor McDaniels, Tompkins 
Peter P. McEUigott, New 

York 
Patrick J. McGrath, New 

York 
Ralph R. McKee, Richmond 
John J. McKeon, Kings 
Patrick J. McMahon, New 

York 
Joseph J. Monohan, Kings 
Mortimer C. O'Brien, West- 
chester 
Vincent A. O'Connor, Kings 



Harry E. Oxford, New York 
E. Burt Pullman, Herkimer 
John J. Robinson, Suffolk 
James M. Rozan, Erie 
Jacob Schifferdecker, Kings 
Jacob Silverstein, New York 
George F. Small, Erie 
Frank J. Taylor, Kings 
Robert L. Tudor, New York 
James B. Van Woert, New 

York 
James J. Walker, New York . 
Theodore Hackett Wiard, 

New York 
Edward Weil, New York 
Frederick Ulrich, Kings 
Wilson R. Yard, Westchester 
Alfred E. Smith, Speaker, 

New York 



Republican Assemblymen Who Voted to Impeach 

Governor Sulzer. 
Frank M. Bradley, Niagara Herman Schnirel, Ontario 

Clarence Bryant, Genesee Myron Smith, Dutchess 

Eugene R. Norton, Washing- Thomas K. Smith, Onondaga 
ton John R. Yale, Putnam 



Democratic Assemblymen Who Voted Against 
Impeachment. 
Albert C. Benninger, Queens John W. Gurnett, Schuyler 



Verne M. Bovie, Westchester 
Samuel J. Burden, Queens 
Dr. Robert P. Bush, Chemung 
William T. Doty, Orange * 
Edward A. Dox, Schoharie 
Mark Eiser, New York 
Fred. F. Emden, Oneida 
John K. Evans, Sullivan 



Alexander W. Hover, Colum- 
bia 
Augustus S. Hughes, Seneca 
Lawrence M. Kenney, Ulster 
J. Lewis Patrie, Greene 
C. Fred Schwartz, Rensse- 
laer 
James L. Seeley, Steuben 



386 THE BOSS, OR 

Charles H. Gallup, Monroe Arthur P. Squdre, Schenec- 
Eldridge M. Gathright, Ulster tady 

Albert F. Geyer, Erie Howard Sutphin, Queens 

Louis D. Gibbs, New York John W. Telford, Delaware 

Frederick G. Grimme, Rock- Tracy D. Taylor, Rensselaer 

land Clare Willard, Cattaraugus 

Republican Assemblymen Who Voted Against 
Impeachment. 
Caleb H. Baumes, Orange Spencer G. Prime, Essex 
William C. Baxter, Albany Frank L. Seaker, St. Law- 
Mortimer B. Edwards, rence 

Broome Gilbert T. Seelye, Saratoga 
Brayton J. Fuller, Oneida Walter A. Shepardson, Che- 
Walter A. Gage, Montgomery nango 
Michael Grace, Cayuga Morrell E. Tallett, Madison 
Harold J. Hinman, Albany Niles F. Webb, Cortland 
Edward M. McGee, Living- James H. Wood, Fulton and 

ston Hamilton * 
John G. Malone, Albany 

Progressives Who Voted Against Impeachment. 
Michael Schaap, New York Solomon Sufrin, New York 
E. W. Birnkrant, New York 

OF THE SEVENTY-TWO DEMOCRATIC AS- 
SEMBLYMEN WHO VOTED TO IMPEACH 
GOVERNOR SULZER ONLY SEVENTEEN, 
ALL TAMMANY MEN, WERE RE-ELECTED 
AT THE ENSUING NOVEMBER ELECTION. 
ALL SEVEN REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO 
IMPEACH WERE DEFEATED FOR ^RE-ELEC- 
TION. NEVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF 
THE NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY HAD 
THERE BEEN SO COMPLETE A SWEEP BY 
THE VOTERS AS THE RESULT OF A VOTE 
ON ANY ONE SUBJECT. That tells the story of 
what the voters of the state thought about it, and the 



THE GOVERNOR 387 

result needs no further comment. The seventeen As- 
semblymen who escaped defeat were re-elected by greatly 
reduced pluralities, and in districts so strongly Tam- 
many that only an earthquake could dislodge them. 






; 2. X. 



388 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LXI. 

THE SULZER TRIAL A DISGRACEFUL POLITI- 
CAL FARCE. 

The trial of Governor Sulzer was cut and dried before 
it began; a travesty on justice; and farce from begin- 
ning to the end. The laws and the constitution of the 
state were ruthlessly trampled under foot ; the rules of 
evidence thrown to the winds ; and everything deroga- 
tory to the Governor accepted, and everything in his 
favor sneeringly rejected. 

During the trial Judge Herrick, one of the counsel 
for Mr. Sulzer, said: 

*Tf there is a determination here to convict Governor 
Sulzer, do it without any violation of the law. It is 
related that one of the judges of the Court of Appeals, 
not one of the present court, said that 'when me and 
Judge So-and-so make up our minds to beat a man, we 
can always find a way to do it.' " 

At one stage of the trial, Former Senator Hinman, 
of counsel for Mr. Sulzer, exclaimed dramatically : 

''The question is, was Mr. Sulzer impeached because 
of 'mal and corrupt conduct in office,' or was he im- 
peached because of what he refused to do since he took 
office?" 

"Was he impeached, as they say, for the purpose 
of getting rid of a public official who was performing 
his duty? 

'Was he impeached, as they say, for keeping some of 
the moneys which his friends gave him, or was it be- 
cause he was preventing the grafters from stealing the 
moneys of the taxpayers? 



' THE GOVERNOR 389 

''Was he impeached because, as they ^say, he made a 
false statement as to his election expenses, or was it be- 
cause he refused to violate his official oath of office? 

One of Mr. Sulzer's lawyers, Louis Marshall, in a 
speech during the trial which will rank among the great 
forensic efforts in the history of the American bar, said: 

''William Sulzer, who wrought all this for the 
plain people, an honest man, stands before you to-day, 
on trial for his every existence, charged with being 
a criminal, and for what? Not because while an incum- 
bent of office he has been guilty of official corruption ; 
not because he has taken one dollar of the people s 
money, or has enriched himself at their expense, or has 
received a bribe, or has done aught to injure the public 
weal; not because he has been guilty of treason, of a 
violation of the constitution, or of his oath of office; 
not because he has neglected the performance of his of- 
ficial duties, or has absented himself from the seat of 
government, or indicated, to the slightest degree, a lack 
of zeal for the public welfare. It is not charged that he 
was incompetent, or ignorant, or incapable of perform- 
ing the duties of his office, or that he has not been duly 
watchful of the interests which he has been sworn to 
guard. It is not charged that he has entered into con- 
spiracy with those who would loot the oublic treasury, 
or who would fatten on contracts improvidently or cor- 
ruptly drav/n without safeguards to forestall adequately 
the possibility of fraud and collusion. The achieve- 
ments of his administration, as they have passed before 
the eyes of the people, absolve him from all suspicion of 
guilt in regard to any of the offenses contained in the 
category of the usual form of official misconduct. 

"And yet the 'Powers That Be' are now seeking 
to remove William Sulzer from the office which he has 
thus honorably filled, fifteen months before the expira- 
tion of the term for which he was elected. If Ma- 
caulay's celebrated New Zealander, or Montesquieu's fa- 



390 THE BOSS, OR ♦ 

mous Persian were now among us, they might well ask, 
why in this land of boasted liberty and freedom one de- 
serving so well at the hands of his fellow men should be 
subjected to this awful degradation, and why the state 
which he has served so well should be involved in his 
ruin and disgrace. The only answer which could be 
vouchsafed to them is to be found in the ''framed up" 
articles of impeachment, which, as the record shows, 
were adopted, amid disgraceful drunken scenes, at dawn 
on the fatal 13th day of August, 1913, by a bare ma- 
jority of the assembly." 

However, the bosses, and the Special Interests, had 
doomed the Governor — they had the votes — and no law ; 
no truth ; no eloquence ; no facts ; and no constitution 
could save him. "Away with him," they cried. ''Cru- 
cify him! It's his life or ours!" 

The vote of removal was close — 39 to 18. If the Gov- 
ernor had two more votes he would have been acquitted. 
It required a two-third vote to remove the Governor. 

Those who voted against the Governor, and for the 
Bosses, were the following: 

Judges Frederick Collin, William H. Cuddeback, John 
W. Hogan (democrats) ; Frank H. Hiscock, Nathan L. 
Miller (republicans). 

Senators George A. Blauvelt, Rockland county ; 
John J. Boylan, Manhattan; Daniel J. Carroll, Brook- 
lyn; William B. Carswell, Brooklyn; Thomas H. 
■Cullen, Brooklyn ; James A. Foley, Alanhattan ; James 
J. Frawley, Manhattan; Anthony J. Griffin, Manhattan; 
John F. Healy, New Rochelle; William J^ Heffernan, 
Brooklyn; James D. McClelland, ^Manhattan ; John F. 
Malone, Buffalo; John F. Murtaugh, Elmira; Bernard 
M. Patton, Queens; Henry W. Pollock, Manhattan; 
Samuel J. Ramsperger, Buffalo ; Felix J. Sanner, Kings ; 
George W. Simpson, Manhattan; C. D. Sullivan, Man- 
hattan; Herman H. Torborg, Kings; Henry P. Velte, 



THE GOVERNOR * 391 

Brooklyn; Robert F. Wagner, Manhattan; Loren H. 
White, Schenectady (democrats). 

Senators George F. Argetsinger, Monroe County ; 
Elon R. Brown, Watertown; Thomas H. Bussey, 
Wyoming county ; Herbert P. Coats, Saranac Lake ; 
Frank M. Godfrey, Olean; Charles J. Hewitt, 
Cayuga county; William L. Ormrod, Monroe county; 
Henry M. Sage, Albany ; George F. Thompson, Niagara 
county; Henry J. Walters, Syracuse; Thomas B. Wilson, 
Ontario county (republicans). Total 39. 

Those who voted for the Governor, and the people, 
were the following: 

Chief Judge Edgar M. Cullen, and Judge Williard 
Bartlett (democrats) ; Judge Emory A. Chase, and Judge 
William E. Werner (republicans). 

Senators James F. Duhamel, Brooklyn (indepen- 
dent) ; Walter R. Herrick, Manhattan; John W. Mc- 
Knight, Rensselaer; Thomas H. O'Keefe, Oyster Bay; 
William D. Peckham, Utica ; John Seeley, Steuben 
county; Gottfried H. Wende, Buffalo, and Clayton L. 
Wheeler, Delaware county (democrats). 

Senators James A. Emerson, Warrensburg; Seth G. 
Heacock, Ilion ; Abraham J. Palmer, Ulster county ; 
John B. Stivers, Middletown; Ralph W. Thomas, Mad- 
ison county, and George H. Whitney, Saratoga county 
(republicans). Total 18. 

Citizens of the Stat(^ of Nezv York, do not forget the 
names of these men. Remember the names of the men 
who sustained you, and voted for your Governor. Re- 
member tJie names of the men zvho voted to remove your 
Governor at the behest of the Invisible Government, and 
at the dictation of the Bosses and the Special Interests. 
May these subservient Senators meet the political fate 
next Fall of the recreant Assemblymen last Fall. 



392 • THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LXn. 

THE MURPHY CHARGES AGAINST THE GOV- 
ERNOR IN A NUTSHELL. 



Mr. Murphy had the Frawley Committee appointed 
just before the Legislature adjourned in regular session. 

Its ostensible purpose was to investigate some of the 
institutions of the State, but its real purpose was to dis- 
credit the good work Blake and Hennessy were doing in 
their investigations to uncover the graft in the Prisons 
and the Highways Departments. 

The Frawley Committee began its sessions by going 
after Blake and Hennessy. It accomplished little, how- 
ever, and remained quiescent until the extraordinary ses- 
sion of the Legislature convened, in June, 1913. 

Then Mr. Murphy had one of his Assistant Tammany 
Senators from up-State, Senator Thompson, of Niagara 
County, introduce a resolution enlarging the powers of 
the Frawley Committee to investigate Election matters. 
Under the constitution this could not be done in an extra 
session unless recommended by the Governor. However, 
the ostensible purpose of this resolution was to discredit 
the Governor's fight for Direct Primaries and to prevent 
the enactment of the Governor's Direct Primary Law. 
But the real purpose of the Thompson resolution was to 
have the Frawley Committee investigate the personal 
and family afifairs of the Governor. This was very 
clearly shown in July when the Frawley Committee began 
to make a great hullabaloo concerning a few donations 
which were given to Mr. Sulzer when he was a candi- 



THE GOVERNOR 393 

date for Governor, and which had not been accounted 
for in the statement prepared by his campaign committee. 
As we have heretofore shown, and will show hereafter 
more clearly, these funds were given, in the first in- 
stance, to Mr. Sulzer, and all of this money, every dollar 
of it, and more besides, which was not turned over to 
the Wilson-Sulzer campaign committee, was given by 
Mr. Sulzer to John H. Delaney and to Charles F. Mur- 
phy, for the Democratic State Committee. This matter 
was brought out very clearly in the John Doe proceed- 
ings, and the sworn proof stands uncontradicted on the 
record. 

On the trial before the Court of Impeachment the 
prosecution — after months of search and investigation — 
proved that Mr. Sulzer had received about $27,000 all 
told as donations from his friends during the campaign. 
Of this amount, the proof showed that $12,000 went to 
the Wilson-Sulzer campaign committee, and the testi- 
mony in the John Doe proceedings proved conclusively 
that $15,000 — and more — went to Mr. Delaney and to 
Mr. Murphy for the Democratic State Committee. So 
of all the money given to Mr. Sulzer by his friends 
during the campaign, not one dollar went to his own use, 
or was kept by him. That is the truth. The record 
proves it. Every dollar was given to the Wilson-Sulzer 
campaign committee, or was turned over by Mr. Sulzer 
to Delaney and Murphy for the Democratic State Com- 
mittee. 

Mr. Murphy's charges against the Governor, stripped 
of their legal verbiage and political clap-trap, we find in 
eight articles as follows: 

Article 1. Alleged filing an erroneous statement of 
campaign contributions. 

Article 2. Alleged acknowledgment that this statement 
was true. 

Article 3. Alleged efforts to withhold testimony before 
the Frawley Committee. 



394 THE BOSS, OR 

Article 4. Alleged efforts to suppress testimony before 
the Frawley Committee. 

Article 5. Alleged efforts to prevent witnesses from 
appearing before the Frawley Committee. 

Article 6. Alleged private use of campaign contribu- 
tions. 

Article 7. Alleged efforts to influence the votes of 
Members of the Assembly for his Direct Primary Bill. 

Article 8. Alleged efforts to influence the price of 
stocks on the New York Stock Exchange through legis- 
lation he recommended. 

The Governor was unanimously acquitted of all these 
charges except Articles 1, 2 and 4. They were too ridi- 
culous even for consideration. The votes on Articles 1, 
2 and 4 were close. If the Governor had received two 
more votes, he would have been acquitted, and his counsel 
from the first were confident of his acquittal of all the 
charges, first, because ,the proceeding was in voliation of 
the Constitution and the Laws of the State ; and second- 
ly, because they were confident that Senator Wagner, 
who was financially interested ; and Senators Frawley, 
Sanner, Rampsberger, Brown, Blauvelt and Thompson, 
who had prosecuted the Governor, and had expressed an 
opinion as to his guilt before the trial began, would re- 
frain from voting by a sense of the decency. 

Senator Wagner was financially interested, because as 
a Senator and President pro tem of the Senate, he was 
receiving $1,500 a year, and the removal of the Governor 
made him Lieutenant Governor of the State at a salary 
of $5,000 a year. Senators Frawley, Sannej, Ramps- 
berger, Brown, Blauvelt, and Thompson had been the 
most bitter prosecutors and persecutors of the Governor, 
and had verbally, or in writing, expressed their opinion 
as to the Governor's guilt before the trial began. Under 
no circumstances should they have voted. A sense of de- 
cency should have restrained them from voting to re- 
move the Governor. There is no case in the history of the 



THE GOVERNOR 395 

English speaking world, where members of a Court had 
expressed an opinion, or who were financially interested, 
who ever voted to remove an official in an impeachment 
trial. The Sulzer case overthrew the precedents of three 
centuries. It was like putting the defendant in the Jury 
box and expecting a verdict for the plaintiff. 

Then again, it was confidently expected that Judge 
Nathan L. Miller, Judge Frank H. Hiscock, and Judge 
Emory Chase, three Republican Judges of the Supreme 
Court, who were sitting as members of the Court of Ap- 
peals 'only by designation, would refrain from votmg, 
as they were not according to the Constitution, members 
of the Court of Appeals. They were Supreme Court 
Judges, and had no right to participate in the judgment, 
and were no more constitutional members of the Court 
than if they were ordinary citizens. 

Of course, these men should not have voted. And we 
must not forget that if any two of these eleven Judges 
and Senators had not voted the Governor would have 
been acquitted. The fact that these members did vote 
to remove the Governor, vitiates the judgment and the 
removal. It is confidently expected that if the matter 
can ever be brought to the attention of the United States 
Supreme Court, that high tribunal of justice will take 
this view of the case, and declare the whole conspiracy 
void from beginning to end. 

Governor Sulzer was convicted on Articles i, 
2 and 4. In regard to these Articles, Chief 
Judge Edgar M. Cullen, of the Court of Ap- 
peals, v^ho presided at the trial, said as fol- 
lows: 

"Never before the present case has it been 
attempted to impeach a public officer for acts 
committed when he was not an officer of the 
State. No suggestion to that effect can be found 
in any opinion of Courts of Impeachment, in 



396 THE BOSS, OR 

the arguments of counsel at such trials, or in 
the text writers. In several cases where it has 
been sought to remove an officer for such acts, 
the right has been expressly denied." 

Chief Judge Edgar M. CuUen voted to acquit 
Mr. Sulzer on every one of the articles, and 
certainly no one can question the integrity, the 
learning, or the legal ability of the Chief Judge 
of the Court of Appeals. His opinion will stand 
as the judgment of posterity, and will be the 
conclusive proof that Mr. Sulzer was removed 
from office by a political conspiracy of the 
Bosses and the Special Interests. 

Chief Judge Cullen further said concerning 
these Articles: 

"The first article and the second article of 
impeachment are intimately connected, and I 
shall treat them together. As to filing a false 
certificate, it is my opinion, as a matter of law, 
that the Corrupt Practices Act, now a part of 
the Election Law, did not require Mr. Sulzer to 
state the amounts and the sources of his election 
contributions, and in failing to do so he com- 
mitted no offense. 

"I also find, as a matter of law, that the oath to 
the statement was extra-judicial, so far as it re- 
lates to his receipts. The election law does not 
require a verified statement, and the peiial code 
does not require that that statement shall contain 
the receipts of the party making the statement. 
I am therefore plainly of the opinion that the 
oath was extra-judicial. That is elementary law, 
and Mr. Sulzer was not guilty of the ofifense 
charged. 



THE GOVERNOR 397 

^'However, I am clearly of the opinion that 
a public officer cannot be impeached for acts 
committed when he was not an officer of the 
State. This is a question not of power but of 
right. Doubtless, if the Assembly impeaches 
and the Court convicts and removes from office, 
that judgment cannot be attacked no matter what 
the reason assigned for the removal may be, but 
the question will ever remain: Was the judg- 
ment right?'' 

When the time came to vote on Article 4, 
Chief Judge Cullen said in a firm voice, and in 
the most emphatic manner. 

^'There is no evidence of any deceit or fraud, 
and to construe what is alleged to have passed 
between the Governor and Peck as a threat to 
remove the latter is to substitute suspicion for 
proof, and the vagaries of the imagination for 
evidence. There was nothing in the article pro- 
posed by the Assembly regarding this Peck mat- 
ter. No one should be tried for one offense and 
convicted of another. Far better the Assembly 
should present new articles than the precedent 
should be set for what seems a violation of the 
ordinary principles of justice. Forms are often 
necessary to observe to protect the substance that 
lies behind them. Where they are not observed, 
in substantial matters, law degenerates to oppres- 
sion on the one hand and to anarchy on the 

other." 

No impartial student can read the elaborate decision 
of Chief Judge Cullen in favor of the innocence of 
Governor Sulzer without being convinced of the sound- 



398 THE BOSS, OR 

ness of the law and the facts as stated by that vener- 
able jurist, and the injustice of the conviction. 

Judge Cullen's decision in the case will stand, for all 
time, as the judgment of every decent, honest, law-abid- 
ing citizen of the State, and will be the verdict of pos- 
terity, of future jurists, of law writers, and of the his- 
torians. 



THE GOVERNOR 399 



CHAPTER LXni. 

QUACK JUSTICE IN ALBANY 

(Editorial from the Boston Transcript, September 

22, 1913.) 

The sympathy for Governor Sulzer, which is wide- 
spread among the people of his State, is Hkely to be 
greatly strengthened by the manner of the impeach- 
ment proceedings. The counsel for the defense chal- 
lenged the right of certain members of the Senate to 
sit in the court. Three of them were members of a 
committee that had recommended the prosecution of the 
Governor, and the others would be personally or finan- 
cially benefited by his removal from office. Judge Cullen 
— ruled that only upon the application of these men to be 
excused from service would they be excluded from par- 
ticipation. 

In spite of this fact, it none the less follows that not 
since the days of King John has there been a greater 
travesty of justice than is presented by the composition 
of this court. The facts in the case are so patent that 
should its findings be adverse, as is probable, they will 
violate the fundamental principles of justice. Judge 
Parker, counsel for the prosecution, said that the mem- 
bers of the court were there as representatives of the 
whole people. His face wore a look of solemnity as he 
said it, to which he had probably schooled himself when 
acting in the judicial capacity. 

Of course it is notorious that the court as consti- 
tuted, at least the political end of it, is not acting upon 
a mandate from the people, but in accordance with 



400 THE BOSS, OR 

orders of the vulgar despot who directs the movement 
of his satelHtes from Tammany Hall. Whatever the 
guilt or innocence of the Governor may be, he is in the 
hands of men a majority of whom are determined upon 
his undoing, the men whose eligibility was questioned 
being particularly in that position. The Governor is de- 
prived of a right which is accorded the meanest criminal 
in a jury trial. 

The entire principle of fairness is vitiated. Impar- 
tiality is a fundamental consideration, and the opening 
for this condition of things has proved a means for a 
miscarriage of justice. 

It is surprising that this aspect of the situation has 
not made a deeper impression upon the press of New 
York. It seems to us the most vital feature of these 
important proceedings. We can imagine nothing that is 
more calculated to shock the sense of fair play, nothing 
more repugnant to the long established standards of 
justice than that those who have formulated the charges 
should also be made the judges of the law and the facts. 

The great State of New York cannot escape the dis- 
grace of withholding from the man, who is her chief 
citizen, the right which her meanest citizen may demand 
and compel. What a shame ! 



THE GOVERNOR 401 



CHAPTER LXIV. 

GOVERNOR SULZER SAYS HIS REMOVAL 
WAS A POLITICAL LYNCHING. 

At the "People's House" Governor Sulzer had been 
expecting to hear that the Murphy court had voted to 
remove him from office. He refused to attend the trial. 

Chester C. Piatt, his private secretary, was the first 
to notify the Governor of the action of the court. 
Mr. Sulzer was the coolest and the calmest man in Al- 
bany. He did not show any emotion but merely heard 
what Mr. Piatt had to say and continued to walk up 
and down the room with his hands clasped behind his 
back. 

A few minutes later the Governor, by appointment, 
met the newspaper correspondents to whom he said: 

*'By virtue of a power beyond the present control of 
our electorate, I now hand back to the people the com- 
mission they gave me, and I hand it. back to them untar- 
nished and unsullied." 

Referring to the last statement he had made in which 
he expressed the hope that he would have a fair trial, 
Mr. Sulzer said: 

''When I gave out that statement I did not think 
Senator Wagner, Senator Frawley, Senator Ramsperger, 
Senator Sanner, Senator Brown, Senator Blauvelt, and 
Senator Thompson would act as my jurors and judges, 
as they were either interested financially in the outcome 
of my trial, or had acted as my prosecutors, and con- 
demned me before trial, or on account of personal 
grievances had expressed an opinion as to my guilt. The 
impropriety of these Senators voting for my removal 



402 THE BOSS, OR 

must be apparent, and vitiates the judgment, because 
had they, or any two of them, refused to vote — as a 
sense of decency should have induced them to do — I 
would not have been convicted on any one of the ar- 
ticles of impeachment. 

"My trial, from beginning to end, so far as the Tam- 
manyijsed part of the court is concerned — was a farce; 
a political lynching ; the consummation of a deep-laid 
conspiracy to oust me from office, I am glal it is all 
over. I am tired of being caluminated ; tired of being 
hunted and hounded; tired of trying to do my duty and 
being traduced. 

''The court ruled in everything against me, and ruled 
out everything in my favor. The v\^ell-settled rules of 
evidence v^ere thrown to the winds. A horse thief, in 
frontier days, .would have received a squarer deal. 

*'Mr. Murphy controlled the Assembly, and ordered 
the impeachment. The Bosses, and the special interests, 
controlled most of the members of the court, and dic- 
tated its procedure, and wrote the judgment. 

"The meetings of the court were in secret, and be- 
hind closed doors. It was a star-chamber proceeding, 
where the enemies of the State could work for my con- 
viction undiscovered. 

'They called it the high court of impeachment, but 
history will call it 'Murphy's High Court of Infamy.' 
The trial was a human shambles ; a libel on law ; a 
flagrant abuse of constitutional rights ; a disgrace to 
civilization ; and the verdict overturned the safeguards 
of liberty, and the precedents of three centuries. The 
judgment will not stand the test of time. " The future 
historian will do me justice. The people will reverse the 
findings of the Murphy court." 

Mr. Sulzer said he had been anxious to take the 

witness stand in his own behalf to prove Peck a liar; 

to explain what Morgenthau had said ; and to deny the 

absurd story told by Allan Ryan ; but that he had been ad- 



THE GOVERNOR 403 

vised not to do so, because under the rulings of the 
court excluding the testimony of John A. Hennessy and 
other witnesses in his behalf it was clear that his own 
story on the stand would also be ruled out as inad- 
missable. 

Mr. Sulzer said he was heavily in debt, and speaking 
of the charges that he had used his candicay for Gov- 
ernor to make money said: 

"Had I wanted to make money out of my campaign 
for Governor, I certainly would not have rejected, as 
I did, offers of donations from several citizens of up- 
wards of $100,000 — and borrowed more than forty 
thousand dollars which I did from Reilly, Meany, 
and several others. The court ruled out all testimony 
concerning sums of money offered to me by Judge 
Beardsley and others, and which I declined, at the 
time, to accept, for good and sufficient reasons. 

*T want to thank Judge Cullen and the members of the 
court who voted for my vindication ; the lawyers who 
gave me wise counsel, and the friends of good govern- 
ment throughout the State whose belief in my honesty, 
and whose faith in the rectitude of my intentions have 
never wavered. 

''In conclusion I want to say that among the things 
that caused my removal were my fight for direct pri- 
maries, the graft investigations, and my signing the full 
crew and the Stock Exchange bills, which gave me the 
enmity of the great railroad corporations and the special 
interests. I am the victim of the Invisible Government — 
not the -first — nor will I be the last." 



404 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LXV. 

SULZER NOMINATED AND ELECTED TO AS- 
SEMBLY. 

Tuesday night, October 21, 1913, will long live in the 
memory of those who were at the Grand Central station 
when William Sulzer and wife arrived from Albany. 
More than one hundred thousand people were there to 
welcome the man who had been cast out of office by 
the orders of Tammany Hall. It was a mad scene of 
waving hats and hands — it was an ovation which few 
men have ever received. 

It was a triumphal procession from the station down 
through the East Side of New York to the Broadway 
Central Hotel. Napoleon, the conquering hero on his 
return to Paris, was never accorded a more popular 
demonstration. New York has never seen its Hke. A 
continuous ovation befitting a monarch was tendered to 
the man who but a few hours before had been removed 
from the office of Governor of the Empire State. 

The man who had been cast out had come back and 
the people, irrespective of party, were ready to vindi- 
cate their fitness for self-government by showing to the 
world their resentment against boss-rule. From the mo- 
ment William Sulzer arrived in New York City, there 
was no doubt about what the people would do to Tam- 
many on Election Day. 

Headquarters were opened at the Broadway Central 
Hotel and the active work of the campaign was started. 
Men flocked there to ofifer their services. From all 
over the country came men to speak for Sulzer and 



THE GOVERNOR 



405 



DOOMED! 




fe^^'^,^ 



From the Albany Knickerbocker Press 

THE SHAME OF THE EMPIRE STATE. 



406 THE BOSS, OR 

against Tammany. From every State in the Union 
letters poured in wishing him God speed. 

One night the writer, in company with others, fol- 
lowed William Sulzer. As the Sulzer automobile swung 
into Avenue C, thousands upon thousands, and then 
more thousands, fell in behind the machine. It was all 
the police could do to keep the crowds back to let the 
machine creep along. The cry, "We want Sulzer ! We 
want Sulzer! Sulzer! Sulzer! We want Sulzer!" be- 
came louder and louder as thousands upon thousands 
took up the cry. "Roll thunder, roll. Ware, Chief ! 
Ware!" that cry was the doom of Tammany Hall. It 
spelled the political death of every man who had partici- 
pated in Murphy's court of infamy. 

The inspector of police, who was standing on the 
running board of the machine, putting his hand on the 
shoulder of the writer, said, "My God, turn around and 
look at that crowd !" As far as the eye could see from 
house to house the street was jammed with a living mass 
of humanity. Never to my dying day shall I forget that 
noise and that sea of humanity. It was as if the sub- 
merged growl of the entire beastly world was let loose 
at once. The man does not live who can take pen in 
hand and describe that crowd. It seemed to come from 
the throats of thousands who had from centuries of op- 
pression recourse only to the snarl of the lion in cap- 
tivity. 

Bosses may come and bosses may go, but the liberty 
of this republic will never perish with the consent of the 
men who cheered and followed Sulzer. 

The first meeting that night was held in Hennington 
Hall. Upon arriving at the hall it was a case of fight 
your way in, surrounded by policemen to hold back the 
crowds. The scene at this hall was the same as at all 
other meetings. If there were any chairs or seats you 
could not see them. If there was an aisle you would 
not know it. It thtrt v/as a law against over-capacity 



THE GOVERNOR 40? 

it could not be enforced. As you looked from the stage 
all you could see was a packed, jammed humanity, you 
might wonder at how you got into the hall, but your 
heart would almost stop beating when you thought how 
you were going to get out. 

We left Sulzer on the outside to make a speech while 
we went inside. How Sulzer was to get into that 
hall was the question that was running through my 
mind. Could it be done? While thinking along this 
line of a sudden a yell goes up, "Here comes Sulzer," and 
over the sea of heads could be seen policemen pushing 
their way through that mass of humanity. On they came 
pushing, crowding clearing foot room for Sulzer. In 
course of time they reached the platform and as Sulzer 
stood up, in the language of the West, "Hell broke loose 
for twenty minutes." The ki yi of the West has nothing 
on the hurrah of New York for a popular idol. 

Presently you could hear a pin drop as the long arms 
of Sulzer waved for silence. William Sulzer, the vete- 
ran of many campaigns, is again speaking in a voice 
that rings as clear as a bell, and as cold as steel. He is 
not on the defensive. He is the aggressor. Now he 
is speaking to his people and they listen. 

Mr. Sulzer's speech in that hall that night was steno- 
graphically reported by my stenographer. Here it is 
transcribed in cold words, without the interruptions, and 
the deafening applause that followed every period. 



i08 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LXVL 
MR. SULZER'S GREAT SPEECH IN HENNING- 
TON HALL, NEW YORK CITY, OCTOBER 26, 
1913. 

{Stcnographically reported.) 

Mr. Sulzer said : 

'Tn view of the request in writing from more than half 
of the registered voters in the Sixth Assembly District, 
regardless of party affiliations, asking me to accept the 
nomination for Member of Assembly, to further the 
cause of honest government, I have consented to take the 
nomination, and I am going back to Albany, for the good 
that I can do. 

"Of course, I appreciate' the confidence in me of my 
old constituents, and no words of mine can tell them how 
grateful I am for their unwavering loyalty. 

'T am a non-partisan candidate, having no axe to 
grind, and no purpose to serve, other than to do what 
I can for the cause of good government, the struggle for 
which at Albany, brought about my removal from the 
Governorship by an arrogant Boss whose dictates to do 
wrong I defied. 

'T shall go back to the Legislature, as the representa- 
tive of the plain people, to aid the cause that lacks as- 
sistance ; to fight the wrongs that need resistance ; for 
the future in the distance, and the good that I can do. 

Murphy's High Court 

''The people know that I was removed from the Gov- 
ernorship because Mr. Murphy controlled the Assembly, 
and ordered my impeachment when he found out I would 
not be a rubber stamp. He controlled most of the mem- 



THE GOVERNOR 409 

bers of The High Court of Infamy; dictated its pro- 
cedure, and wrote the jud^gment. Murphy zvas the 
Judge and the Jury, the Prosecutor and the Bailiff. 

"They called it the High Court of Impeachment, but 
history will call it Murphy's High Court of Infamy. 
The trial was a human shambles ; a libel on law ; a flag- 
rant abuse of constitutional rights ; a disgrace to 
civilization ; and the verdict overturned the safeguards of 
liberty, and the precedents of three centuries. 

"The Judgment will not stand the test of time. The 
future historian will do me justice. 

The Court of Public Opinion. 

"There is a higher Court than Murphy's — the Court 
of Public Opinion. I appeal from Alurphy's Court of 
Political Passion to the calmer judgment of posterity, 
and the sober reflection of Public Opinion. 

"When I refused to obey the orders of the Boss to 
stop the investigations of Blake and Hennessy, and to 
clog the wheels of the machinery of justice, which I set 
in motion to prevent the further looting of the State, 
Mr. Murphy threatened me with removal from office. 

"From that day to this, all that money, all that power, 
all that influence can do to destroy me has been done. 

"However, I shall keep up the struggle for honest 
government ; I am in the fight to stay to the end ; and 
the forces of righteousness will prevail over the forces 
of iniquity. No man can destroy me but Wm. Sulzer. 

"The record will show that no man, in all the history 
of this country, has suffered more than I have for th ^ 
cause of honest government. But I am content. Justice 
will triumph. 

Murphy Got the Money. 

"Now, another thing. The "Chief" and his wax fig- 



410 THE BOSS, OR 

ures in the Murphy High Court said that my campaign 
statement last year was erroneous. It was testified on 
the trial, and not contradicted, that I did not make up 
that statement; that I did not read it; that I asked if it 
was correct ; that I was told it was as correct as it could 
be made; and that then I signed it. That is all I had 
to do with it, and I have not seen the statement from 
that day to this. 

''The evidence on my trial shozved that about $27,000 
was donated to me while I was a candidate for Gov- 
ernor; of this sum $10,000 went to Murphy; $5,000 to 
Delaney ; and the b ilance to my Campaign Committee. 
I did not make a dollar as a candidate for office. That 
is the truth; and that is all there is to it. Instead of mak- 
ing money, the record shows I borrowed money and ran 
in debt, and besides I refused to accept money from con- 
tractors, corporations, or the Special Interests. 

"Mr. Murphy knew more about my campaign affairs 
than I did, because the men he had planted in my office 
from the time I was nominated until I went to Albany 
knew everything that was going on and kept Mr. Murphy 
advised. 

"They say Mr. Murphy took a leading part in mak- 
ing up the statement last fall of the Democratic State 
Committee. I want to ask him if the statement of the 
Democratic State Committee is correct? He knows all 
about it. Let him tell about the money the "bagmen" 
collected, and what was done with it. 

Murphy Offered to Destroy Campaign Statement. 

"Mr. Murphy threatened me about my campaign state- 
ment, and intimated that it would disappear fron the 
files of the Secretary of State, if I would take 'order'-/ 
Of course, I refused to be a party to such an iniquit)'. 
Knowing what I do I hope the campaign statement of 
the Democratic State Committee will not disappear from 



THE GOVERNOR -ill 

the files of the Secretary of State. They say Mr. 
Murphy put the names of a lot of dummies in that state- 
ment as contributors who never contributed a dollar. 
How about that, Mr. Murphy? 

The Murphy Farce. 

"How preposterous it is for Murphy to remove me 
from the Governorship because the men the Boss had 
around me made up an erroneous statement of my cam- 
paign funds, while the statement he and his lieutenants 
made up for the Democratic State Committee is ten times 
more incorrect. What a farce it all is ! Does Boss Mur- 
phy expect to get away with it? Does the Boss think the 
people have lost their senses, and will vote for the Mur- 
phy's ticket when Murphy removed from office the Gov- 
ernor the people elected? 

Removed from 0,ffice Because He Would Not Do 

Wrong. 

*'The people know that my removal from office by Mr. 
Murphy was because I would not be a ''proxy" Gov- 
ernor; because I would not be dishonest; because I in- 
sisted' on stopping graft; because I stood by the tax- 
payers ; because I would not do wrong ; because I would 
not do' what Mr. Murphy wanted me to do; because I 
would not be a Murphy tool ; because I refused to be a 
party to the looting of the State. 

. 'The voters will answer Mr. Murphy on Election Day. 
They will tell the Boss what they think of him. The best 
way the voters can express their indignation about my 
removal from office, and their desire for honesty in city 
and State affairs is to vote against the Tammany ticket. 
That is the way to beat the 'Chief.' 



412 THE BOSS, OR 

MuRPHYisM Must Go. 

"Murphyism must go or our free institutions are 
doomed. No man, and no official, can serve Murphy 
and the People; the 'Chief and the City; if he is true to 
Murphy, he must be false to Duty ; he cannot be loyal to 
one without betraying the other. 

''The way to beat the 'Boss' is to beat the ticket of 
the 'Boss.' The Murphy ticket should be defeated in the 
interest of good government, and for the general welfare. 
Murphyism must go! It is a disgrace to the State. 

The Brady $25,000. 

"Mr. Murphy has taken several days to answer my 
charges about the Anthony N. Brady $25,000, which I 
refused, and which Murphy took, and never accounted 
for. 

"Mr. Murphy calls on a dead man to prove that he 
returned the money. He says he gave it back to Brady, 
but Brady is dead and he can't corroborate Murphy. 
Was anybody with them when the money was paid back ? 

The Chief Got Ryan's Money, Too. 

"Let Murphy make his affidavit, too, that he did not 
get the $10,000 Allan Ryan sent to me during the cam- 
paign. If he did not get the Ryan $10,000, who did? 
Has Murphy's bagman been robbing him? But I know 
that Murphy received Allan Ryan's $10,000 because he 
told me so. It is now too late to lie about it. 

Murphy Deals in Jobs. 

"Do not forget that Murphy spent $300,000 of your 
money — the taxpayers money — to frame up a case on me, 
and oust me from office. How much more money Wall 
Street, the railroads, and the Special Interests put up 
to help Murphy, I knozv not; but they say it zvas not less 



THE GOVERXOR 413 

than a million. Who got the money f Some day the 
truth zvill come out. Who got this boodle f That is the 
question. Murphy is in politics for all there is in it. He 
is a dealer in jobs and contracts, and not in the game for 
his health. They say he is worth $15,000,000. WHERE 
DID HE GET IT? 

A VOICE: "You didn't get a square deal." 
Mr. Sulzer: "No, I did not have a 'Chinaman's chance' 
in Murphy's Court. Everybody knows that my trial, 
from beginning to end, was a farce — a political lynching 
— the consummation of a deep-laid conspiracy. The 
Murphy Court ruled in everything against me, and 
ruled out everything in my favor. The rules of evi- 
dence were thrown to the winds. A horsethief, in fron- 
tier days, would have received a squarer deal. In my re- 
moval from the Governorship, by Boss Murphy, the State 
witnessed the most monstrous perversion of government 
in all its history. 

The Impeachment Farce 

"Mr. Murphy, and the Special Interests, which I an- 
tagonized, have won a temporary victory; but the fight, 
for honest government will go on. The farce of my 'trial 
will have a good effect in the end. It has opened the eyes 
of the people to the graft of millions of dollars annually, 
and it will hasten the adoption of the initiative and the 
referendum; bring about the recall of public officials, in- 
cluding judges and judicial decisions ; and write upon 
the statute books other reforms, especially a direct pri- 
mary law, so that the voters, instead of the bosses, will 
nominate, as well as elect, all officials to public office. 
The people now know that the power to nominate pub- 
lic officials is the power to control these public officials ; 
and that we cannot have honest government in the State 
of New York until the voters nominate and control all 
public officials. 



414 THE BOSS, OR 

Was an Honest Governor. 

"As the Governor I have been honest in all things, and 
faithful to my trust. No influence could control me in 
the performance of my duty but the dictates of my con- 
science. / have lost my office, but I have kept my self- 
respect. I would rather lose the Governorship than lose 
my soul; / would rather be right than be Governor; and 
no Governor can serve God and Mammon ; the State and 
the Special Interests; the PEOPLE and the Boss; the 
visible and the invisible government. 

"Let us indulge the hope that my loss of the Governor- 
ship will be the people's gain. Misfortunes are often 
blessings in disguise. If my undoing by an ignorant and 
an arrogant and a corrupt and a desperate 'Boss' shall be 
the humble means of forever destroying 'Bossism' in the 
State of New York, I shall be content, and feel that I 
have not struggled in vain for better things. 

Murphy Is Getting Rattled 

"Mr Murphy is rattled; he knows his ticket is beaten; 
his statement in reply to my charges is to laugh. Mr. 
Murphy wants us to believe that he was turning away 
money. That will make the braves chuckle. I have asked 
Mr. Murphy to tell us where he got his fortune. He dare 
not answer. How do you suppose he grew rich if he re- 
turned money that came his way? But everybody be- 
lieves the 'Chief got the Brady and Ryan money. I 
know it. 

"You can rob the people for years ; you can fool the 
people for years ; you can outrage the people for years ; 
but when the people find out how they have been plun- 
dered ; how they have been fooled; how they have been 
outraged, their wrath is terrible. 

"Murphy, drunk with power, and blind with hate, 
has engineered his own undoing. Murphy will be the 



THE GOVERNOR 415 

worst beaten Boss, on Election Day, in the annals of 
American politics, and his defeat will sound the doom of 
Tammany — a consummation devoutly to be wished. 

Fought a Good Fight. 

'T have fought a good fight, against tremendous odds, 
for honest government ; / have kept the faith; I have been 
true to my ideals, and to my official oath ; I have stood 
by the PEOPLE; I have dared to defy the 'orders' of 
Boss Murphy ; and I did it in the face of threats of per- 
sonal destruction. HAD I BUT SERVED THE BOSS 
WITH HALF THE ZEAL I DID THE STATE 
THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO IMPEACH- 
MENT OF WILLIAM SULZER. 

Has No Regrets. 

''Looking back over it all, I am frank to say that I 
have no regrets, as my conscience is clear, and tells me 
truly that I have done no wrong— but my whole duty— 
fearlessly and honestly— day in and day out— to all the 
people of the State— as God gave me the light to see the 

right. 

Tammany a Blot 

"Tammany, under Murphyism, is treason to the G.ov- 
ernment; Tammany, under Murphyism, is not a political 
organization — it is a criminal conspiracy to loot the city 
and the State; a stumbling block to Democracy and to 
Progress; a big black blot on the fair escutcheon of^ the 
Empire State; and a threatening menace to civic right- 
eousness, and our free institutions.'' 

When Sulzer finished, the roars for twenty minutes 
shook the building. Men acted as mad. They struggled 
to shake his hand, or touch the hem of his garment. 
And so it was from hall to hall, from park to square, 
it was all the same, five and six meetings a night. 



416 THE BOSS, OR 

There was gloom in Tammany Hall. Dark, thick 
gloom. Defeat stared the chief in the face. By im- 
peaching a Governor elected by the people, he was 
about to lose an empire — the richest in the world. 

Tammany Hall was set going upon its mission hell- 
ward by Boss Alurphy when he impeached the Governor. 
It was a political mistake to impeach Sulzer. The friends 
of Sulzer impeached Tammany, because they wanted to 
demonstrate to the chief and all bosses who place their 
will above that of the people that they, the people of this, 
the Empire State, are fit for self-government. 

Tammany may plan and scheme. Election Day ap- 
proaches slow but sure. The people's court will render 
judgment. That is the court which does not obey the 
edict of Delmonico's. 

The newspapers on that August morning, when the 
Assembly over the telephone had carried out the edict 
of the Chief, reported Charles F. Murphy as smiling. 
There was no smile last election night. The time had 
come when the smile disappeared. 

Mitchell carried the City of Greater New York by 
121,000. Who did it? WM. SULZER— THAT'S ALL. 



THE GOVERNOR 417 



CHAPTER LXVn. 

COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S 
LETTER TO GOVERNOR WM. SULZER. 

THE OUTLOOK, 

287 Fourth Avenue, 

New York. 

Office of Theodore Roosevelt, 

September 2, 1913. 
My Dear Governor Sulzer: — 

Upon my return from Arizona I have received your 
two letters. I thank you for them. I believe I thor- 
oughly understand the assault that is now being made 
upon you. I have yet to meet a single person who be- 
lieves, or even pretends to believe, that a single honest 
motive has animated the proceedings of your antag- 
onists. From Mr. Murphy himself to the Legislators 
who obey his directions, there is no possible question that 
all of your assailants are the enemies of the public, and 
that their aim is to acquire the evil domination of the 
State Government, and that the conspiracy against you 
has not one saving impulse behind it that can in the 
remotest degree be ascribed to patriotism or civic spirit 
or anything save the basest impulse of crooked politics. 
We have never seen a more startling exarnple of the 
power of the invisible government under the present 
system. The extraordinary thing is that the ''conserva- 
tive" upholders of this present system should have wit- 
nessed the decrees of the invisible government carried 
out within twenty-four hours, and nevertheless denounce 
as revolutionary our proposal for changes in the form 
of government whereby the deliberate judgment of the 
majority of the voters mav be executed within a space 
of time no shorter than that required for the executioi 



418 THE BOSS, OR 

of their deliberate judgment in the choice of a Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

Let me add one thing, my dear Governor. You 
owe it to yourself and to all those who have supported 
you to take the earliest opportunity to answer the 
charges made against you. That the purposes of those 
bringing the charges are wholly evil I am sure that 
all honest men feel. Moveover, I am sure that honest 
men feel that the assault made upon you by your foes is 
due to your having stood up for the principles of good 
government and decent citizenship even when it was 
necessary to defy the will of the bosses of the two par- 
ties, and especially of your own, and to stand in the 
way of the success of the corrupt schemes of the party 
machines' managers. But there is also among honest 
men a desire for a full and straightforward explanation 
and answer in reference to the charges made against 
you, and I very earnestly hope that as soon as possible 
the explanation and answer will be made. 

With all good wishes and regards to ]Mrs. Sulzer. 
Sincerely yours, 

Theodore Roosevelt. 
To the Hon. William Sulzer. 

THE ANSWER OF GOVERNOR SULZER TO THE 
LETTER OF COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 
This letter was sent to Col. Roosevelt, who desired 
at the time to give it to the newspapers, but the Gov- 
ernor's lawyers deemed it inadvisable. It is now pub- 
lished for the first time. 

Executive Chamber. 

Albany, N. Y. 
September 9, 1913. 
CoL. Theodore Roosevelt, 

My Dear Colonel: — In your letter of the second in- 
stant, in which you were good enough to express sym- 



THE GOVERNOR 41^ 

pathy for me against the attacks on me by Mr. Murphy 
and his agents — the real enemies, as you say, of the 
public — you told me that I owed it to myself, and to 
those who have supported me, to take the earliest op- 
portunity to answer the charges. 

You urged that while all honest men feel that the 
assaults upon me by Mr. Murphy are due to my having 
stood up for the principles of honest government and 
decent citizenship, yet there is among honest men a 
desire for a straightforward explanation of the charges 
made against me ; and you earnestly hope, you say, that 
as soon as possible the explanation will be made. 

You are quite right. Colonel. My impulse from the 
first was to make a reply in detail to the charges of Mr. 
Murphy and his agents. 

That I have not done as you, and some of my other 
friends, advise is because my counsel exacted a promise 
from me to make no statement of my defense beyond 
the emphatic denial, of all the charges, which I issued 
on August 11th last. This pledge I made, and have thus 
far kept. 

If I can now be released from this obligation of 
silence, in the belief, which I share with you, that I 
ought to take the people of the State into my confidence 
about the essentials of my defense, then I ask you to 
make such use of this letter as you deem wise. By doing 
this, I may forfeit some tactical advantage in the trial 
of the case; but that consideration must yield to my 
earnest desire to give you, and the people, a full and 
complete explanation. 

Besides the purpose of my enemies, as I am informed, 
to prolong the impeachment trial until after election re- 
solves me to tell the main facts with which the people 
are concerned, keeping back nothing that they have a 
right to know. 

Before saying anything else I want to tell you this — 



420 THE BOSS, OR 

and I cannot find words to say it with force enough — 
and that is, that I want all the truth known regarding 
every act of which I stand charged by Mr. Murphy, and 
the agents of his corrupt political system, who have 
brought me before the Court of Impeachment not for 
wrongs done by me, but for wrongs I refused to do at 
Mr. Murphy's dictation. 

As many know, I am on trial not for what I did before 
1 took my oath as Governor, but for wdiat I did, or re- 
fused to do, since I went into that office. 

I am to be removed from office, if ^Ir. Alurphy can 
succeed, because I refused to violate my official oath 
and carry out* the "orders" of ^Ir. ]Murphy. That is the 
gist of the matter, and the truth about this trial to take 
away my office. 

If I had served ]\Ir. Alurphy instead of serving the 
State; if I had obeyed Mr. Murphy instead of the dic- 
tates of my conscience, Mr. Murphy never would have 
instituted this impeachment. 

N'ominally I am accused of having made a false state- 
ment of moneys received in my campaign for the Gov- 
ernorship, and diverting some of these moneys to pri- 
vate xise. 

As to the first of these charges, I want to say that 
upon my return from the Syracuse convention some of 
my friends formed a campaign committee to look after 
the personal details of my political affairs. I was so busy 
'with matters of greater moment at the time, and, fur- 
thermore, I was away from New York City so much, 
that I could not give personal attention to the corre- 
spondence, or to the thousand and one detaifs, incident 
to an exciting State campaign. 

Former Governor A. E. Spriggs, of Montana, now a 
resident of New York City, was made Chairman, and 
Louis A. Sarecky was the Treasurer of that campaign 
committee. Upon this committee devolved much of the 
detail work. I turned over to this committee, or to ^Ir. 



THE GOVERNOR 421 

Murphy and his agents, the contributions for campaign 
purposes, and they looked after the disbursing of the 
same. I was very busy and gave these matters little 
heed. 

After election the usual formal statement, on a printed 
blank, was mailed to the office, to be' filled in and filed 
with the Secretary of State in accordance with the law. 
Then it was discovered that, through some oversight, 
the committee had failed to file a notice of its formation 
with the Secretary of State. The question was conse- 
quently raised whether, in view of such omission, the 
filing of the statement by the committee would be con- 
strued as a sufficient compliance with law. 

In order to avoid legal complications, I was advised 
that inasmuch as the law would be complied with if I 
filed the statement, that I should sign it. The statement 
was prepared by \lv. Sarecky and others. I asked if it 
were correct; and being told that it was as accurate as 
it could be made, v/ithout reading it, or going into an 
examination of the items, I signed it. No doubt I was 
careless in doing so. Looking back now I realize that I 
should have gone over the statement carefully. But I 
did not do that. If I made a mistake, it was due to haste 
and carelessness. Certainly it was not done wilfully, or 
with intent to deceive. 

But this is not the only explanation of the failure to 
item.ize certain moneys which weje received in the cam- 
paign. Some of the moneys were not for campaign 
purposes at all, but were loans. They were given to me 
by friends who knew I was heavily in debt, and who 
loaned me the money to pay my debts or to use as I saw 
fit. These friends wanted nothing, and in case of my 
election I knew there was nothing they would ask me 
to do, or that I could -do for them. Politics had nothing 
to do with the matter. 

All the moneys given to me, or sent to me for the 
campaign, were turned over to the committee, to which 



422 THE BOSS, OR 

reference has been made, or were subsequently given to 
Mr. Murphy. Whether the latter turned these moneys 
over to the State Committee or not I cannot say, but an 
investigation of the report filed by that committee nega- 
tives the assumption. 

Let me be frank and say to you that the Frawley Com- 
mittee, acting, no doubt, under instructions from Mr. 
Murphy, deliberately declined to disclose, in its investi- 
gations, certain moneys given to me during the campaign 
which I prompty turned over to Mr. Murphy. Is it fair 
to assume the latter did not want this known to the 
public ? However, I want it all to come out. 

When I became a candidate for Governor I was much 
in debt — through no fault of my extravagance — for I 
have always lived moderately, but because for several 
years I had been borrowing money to invest in mining 
enterprises which had been presented to me by friends 
in the most glowing terms, but which, unfortunately, 
have not turned out so well as we anticipated. 

After I was nominated I wanted to pay ofif some of 
these debts, and I borrowed from friends large sums of 
money to do so. The truth of these matters will come 
out at the trial. 

In regard to the assertion that I gambled in Wall 
Street with money intended for my campaign, I want 
to say the assertion is false. It is false because my 
accusers do not differentiate between moneys contrib- 
uted for political purposes and moneys which were 
loaned to me for my own use, unconditionally, by per- 
sonal friends. When the difference is clearly under- 
stood, those who have been puzzled by the - framed-up 
case, and perverted charges, of Mr. Murphy will see that 
there were moneys loaned to me that I had the right to 
use for any legitimate purpose I saw fit. 

There was nothing wrong in the purchase of the few 
hundred shares of stock about which so much fuss has 
been made. I assume all responsibility. There is noth- 



THE GOVERNOR 423 

ing to hide. No stock, as alleged, was bought on mar- 
gin. No campaign funds, as such, were used, save the 
few checks to which reference is made in the report of 
the Frawley Committee, the amounts of which were sub- 
sequently paid over by me to Mr. Sarecky, or to John H. 
Delaney, or to Charles F. Murphy. 

This stock matter was an investment, and an open 
and above-board transaction. If secrecy had been de- 
sired — and certainly it would have been resorted to if 
there was anything wrong — is it reasonable to suppose 
that checks bearing my name would have been used? 
The transaction was shrouded in no secrecy. If dis- 
honesty were intended, the tracks would have been cov- 
ered better than that. 

Just a few words relative to the account with Harris 
& Fuller : That was a loan account, having its inception 
years ago. The money that firm received was paid to 
reduce the loan by funds I borrowed, and the cam- 
paign had no more to do with it than the man in the 
moon. The men from whom I borrowed the moneys 
will testify to the facts. 

The stock pledged with Harris & Fuller did not be- 
long to me. I borrowed the stock and placed it with that 
firm as collateral for loans to help mining enterprises in 
which I had been induced to invest. These loans from 
Harris & Fuller were made, as the account shows, long 
before I became a candidate for Governor. Testimony 
will be offered about these matters to prove the truth of 
these assertions. 

The fact is, I was more in debt after the election than 
I was before I became a candidate for Governor. The 
reason I borrowed the moneys to which reference has 
been made was to pay Harris & Fuller — to whom I 
owed for loans a large sum of money — cancel this obli- 
gation, and return to the rightful owner the stock I had 
pledged to secure the loans. The reason I did not do 
as I intended was because of information that the stock, 



424 THE BOSS, OR 

about which so much noise has been made, was soon to 
pay dividends ; going up to par ; and the profit that could 
quickly be made, in a legitimate transaction, would go 
far to aid in reducing my debts. 

However, I do not wish to tire you with a more de- 
tailed narrative of each circumstance connected with 
these stock matters, which have been so wilfully mis- 
represented, so viciously exaggerated, and so vehemently 
denounced by my enemies. When the truth is known 
it will appear that they were honest, above-board, and 
straight in every particular. 

In the main. Colonel, I have given you the salient 
points. If there is anything you are in doubt about, I 
hope you will question me. As a friend you have the 
right to ask, and I shall tell you the truth. Be sure that 
I have no fear, and will promptly answer all your ques- 
tions. I pledge myself to meet any inquiry that may 
'suggest itself to your mind. I have nothing to dread 
but the suppression of the truth, or the deliberate dis- 
tortion of the facts. 

If I had wished to make money out of my campaign, 
I could readily have done so by various hooks and 
crooks permitted under the law. My information is 
that Mr. Murphy, and his agents, collected a great deal 
of money for my campaign, and that they did not spend 
anything like the sum they received. If I had wished 
to do so, I could have had upward of $100,000 in moneys 
which were oflfered to me, and which I refused to accept. 

Let me tell you that large sums of money were offered 
to me during the campaign, which I refused because I 
believed there was indirectly an implied obligation to 
give some return, if I became Governor, in the way of 
appointments, legislation, or immunity from law. I re- 
fused to take money from contractors or corporations. 
Some of the moneys that I rejected were subsequently 
accepted- by Mr. Murphy, and never accounted for. 

So far as I am concerned, I welcome an impartial 



THE GOVERNOR 425 

investigation of all moneys received and expended by 
me, by Mr. Murphy, and the Democratic State Com- 
mittee in the last campaign. I am willing to tell what 
I know, and I know a few things that will make mighty 
interesting reading. 

Just an incident here will give you an idea of what I 
mean: Between the holidays last year I met Mr. Mur- 
phy, by agreement, at Delmonico's. We were alone in 
his private room. Mr. Murphy wanted to be confiden- 
tial. He said he desired to be my friend ; that he knew 
about my financial condition ; that he wanted to help me 
out. He offered me money to pay my debts, and enough 
besides to take things easy when I got to Albany. He 
said it was really a party matter ; that I had been a popu- 
lar candidate ; easily elected, and for less money than 
any other candidate in his recollection. He said nobody 
would know anything about it ; that I should pay what 
I owed, and go to Albany feeling easy financially. 

Mr. ]\Iurphy's offer did not appeal to my judgment 
of right and wrong. I tpld him I was paying off my 
debts gradually ; that my creditors were friends ; that 
they would not press me ; that I was economical ; and 
that I had no doubt I v/ould be able to get along. He 
pressed me to accept the offer, and said it was for the 
good of the party ; that the "organization" did not want 
me to be hampered financially ; and that he would allow 
me, in addition to my salary, $1,000 a month for living 
expenses. He said the salary of Governor was not 
enough to pay his expenses ; that the "organization" did 
not want me to run into debt, or to want for anything, 
while I was Governor. 

Of course, I rejected Mr. Murphy's proposition, and 
told him that when I became Governor I would be able 
to get along on the salary ; that I did not want to be un- 
der obligations to any one; and that I had no doubt I 
could manage matters. 

Mr. Murphy finally said: "If you need monev at 



426 THE BOSS, OR 

any time, let me know, and you can have what you want. 
I cleaned up a lot of money in your campaign. I can 
afford to let you have what you want.' 

Yes, Colonel Roosevelt, this Mr. Murphy who made 
this proposition to me is the same Mr. Murphy who 
ordered his Assembly to impeach me, and now brings 
me to trial because he says my campaign statement is 
inaccurate. You can readily guess that it was not so 
much the things I did, or omitted to do, while a candi- 
date for Governor, as the things I did, or refused to do, 
since my inauguration, that have shocked Mr. Murphy's 
financial sensibilities. The taxpayers should know that 
when Mr. Murphy found out that I was determined to 
protect their pockets, from the grafters, Mr. Murphy, 
and his tools, decided to get rid of me by throwing me 
out of office. 

Let me briefly refer to a few facts to support my asser- 
tion as to the motives behind this attempt to remove me 
from the Governorship. 

Early in September, 1912, I met Mr. Murphy by ap- 
pointment in Delmonico's. We discussed the approach- 
ing Democratic State Convention. He told me that Mr. 
Dix had made a pretty good ''organization" Governor ; 
that he had done practically everything Murphy wanted 
done; and that Dix should be renominated. I said that 
if Mr. Dix were renominated I would do what I could 
to help re-elect him. 

Mr. Murphy asked me if I thought Dix could win 
again. I replied that he ought to know ; that he should 
be familiar with political conditions in the State ; and that 
he was the best judge of that. 

Mr. Murphy asked me if I intended to be a candidate 
for the nomination for Governor. I told him that if 
Governor Dix was to be renominated I would go back to 
Congress. Nevertheless, I said, I had received hundreds 
of letters from Democrats throughout the State, urging 
me to be a candidate and pledg^ing me support. I told 



THE GOVERNOR 427 

him I was going to the State Convention; that if Dix 
was not to be renominated, I would get in the race. I 
made Mr. Murphy understand that I was opposed to 
having a dark horse nominated at the last minute; that 
if Dix was out, I would make a fight for an open Con- 
vention ; a fair field, and no favor. I said the rank and 
file of Democratic voters were tired of eleventh-hour 
candidates selected by him in the back room of the hotel. 

I went to the Syracuse Convention. I got there a day 
or two ahead of the meeting. I stopped at the Onon- 
daga Hotel, and organized the fight when I found out 
that Governor Dix was to be shelved. My nomination 
came to me as a result of this fight, and is now history. 
I made no promises to anyone, and the nomination cost 
me nothing but railroad fares and hotel bills. 

While at Syracuse I did not meet Mr. Murphy. After 
my nomination I returned to New York. So far as my 
campaign went I had to leave many of the details to 
others. 

The campaign, as you know, was a short one. I had 
but one conference with the Democratic leaders. It 
was at Delmonico's. Mr. Murphy presided. Ways and 
means, and the conduct of the campaign, were discussed. 
I immediately began hard campaign work, and was 
away from New York City most of the time on stumping 
tours. They say I made more speeches, in the time be- 
tween my nomination and election, and spoke to more 
people, than any candidate for Governor in the history 
of the State. 

After election I went to Monticello for a weeks' rest, 
and thence to Washington to clean up my work as Chair- 
man of the House Committee on Foreign Aflfairs. 

Before I went to Washington, and when I came back 
to New York City, and before going to Albany, I met 
Mr. Murphy by appointment several times. 

Mr. Murphy did not attend my inauguration. I did 
not see him after I left New York City to be sworn in 



428 THE BOSS, OR 

until he came to Albany to attend the meeting of the 
Democratic Presidential Electors. When he was here 
for the Elector's meeting I saw him for a moment in the 
Executive Chamber; then at the luncheon at the Execu- 
tive Mansion. Subsequently he wanted me to come to 
the hotel to confer with him. I wanted him to meet me 
in the Executive Chamber or to come to the Executive 
Mansion. He refused to do this, and I declined to go 
to the hotel. I wanted to do things in the open. He 
wanted to meet in secret. 

The next time I saw Mr. Murphy was at the house 
of Judge AlcCall, in New York City. It was on Satur- 
day night, about the first of February. Judge McCall 
was present some of the time. I was anxious to nomi- 
nate the best man I could find for Chairman of the 
Public Service Commission. I urged the nomination of 
several worthy men. 

Mr. Murphy insisted that I appoint his friend, John 
Galvin. I declined to do it. He refused to consent to 
the appointment of any one of the several men I sug- 
gested, and said that if I sent to the Senate the name of 
any one not satisfactory to him, he would defeat the 
nomination — that he controlled the Legislature, and de- 
manded the patronage of the State. 

At this meeting, and others, Mr. Murphy insisted on 
certain pledges regarding legislation, and especially con- 
cerning appointments to the Public Service Commission ; 
the Health Department ; the Labor Department ; the 
State Hospital Commission; the Department of State 
Prisons ; and the Department of Highways. I declined 
to make pledges. 

]Mr. Murphy insisted that I appoint George M. Palmer, 
for Chairman, and Patrick E. McCabe, for member of 
the Public Service Commission of the Second District ; 
*'The" McManus for Labor Commissioner; John H. 
Delany for Commissioner of Efficiency and Economy ; 
Dr. Biggs for Health Commissioner; a man named 



THE GOVERNOR 429 

Meyers for State Architect; a man in Brooklyn for 
State Hospital Commissioner; and James E. Gaffney 
for Highway Commissioner ; in case I wanted to supplant 
Reel. He said at first that Reel ought to be kept; that 
he was a good man; but that if I wanted a new Com- 
missioner of Highways, "Jim" Gaffney was the best all- 
around man in the State for the job. When he found 
out I would not keep Reel, he demanded thg apoint- 
ment of Gaffney, and finally issued the ultimatum — 
"Gaffney or war." 

He was much opposed to Mr. Gibbs, of Rochester, for 
State Hospital Commissioner, and said he would not be 
confirmed; and was also opposed to Judge Riley for 
Superintendent of Prisons; and especially to Mr. Ratti- 
gan for Warden of Auburn Prison. He told me that 
he was entitled to control the patronage of the State; 
demanded that I surrender to him the appointing power 
of the Executive; and allow him to name the candidates 
for public office. 

At some of the conversations I had with Mr. Murpbv 
I told him that I was the Governor; that the people 
elected me to be Governor; that I intended to be Gov- 
ernor ; that I was not going to be a "proxy" Governor 
or a "rubber stamp" for him or any other man. 

He laughed at me and rebuked me for this, and said 
that I might be the Governor, but he controlled the 
Legislature ; that unless I did what he wanted me to do 
regarding legislation, State policies, and appointments, 
I could not get my nominations confirmed;. and that he 
would block everything I wanted to do regarding legis- 
lative reform with the forces he controlled in the Legis- 
lature. It was disheartening and discouraging — but 
I tried to be patient, get along, and do my best for the 
sake of peace and the good of the general welfare of the 
State. 

I saw Mr. Murphy in New York City on February 28, 
when I went there to attend the Allied Real Estate 



130 THE BOSS, OR 

Men's Dinner at the Waldorf; again on March 
1, at the Amen Corner Dinner; again in Washington 
at the Shoreham Hotel, the night after the inauguration ; 
again in New York City on March 18. The last talk 
I had with Mr. Murphy was on the nigiht of April 12 
and 13. 

From the beginning of January to April 13, there 
was hardly a day, however, that Mr. Murphy did not 
send a messenger to see me with peremptory demands 
to do this or to do that. Some requests were reasonable, 
and I did them; and some were so unreasonable, and 
Fo much against the public welfare, that I refused to do 
them. By April 13 our relations were badly strained. 
I could not comply with the demands of Mr. Murphy, 
and I realized that we had come to the parting of the 
ways. 

No doubt Mr. Murphy knew before this, as well as I 
did, that it would be impossible for us to get along. My 
views were very different from his views. I was deter- 
mined to be the Governor ; to be honest and independent ; 
to do my duty to all the people according to what I be- 
lieved to be right, and to carry out, as far as possible, 
the platform pledges on which I was elected. I also 
wanted to treat all the Democratic county organizations 
squarely, whether these county organizations were con- 
trolled by Mr. Murphy or otherwise. 

When Mr. Murphy found out that he could not use 
me and control me, he sent emissaries to see me fre- 
quently, to demand that I do certain things, and to 
threaten me if I refused. These threats began iq, a small 
way in February, and continued with greater vehemence 
up to the very night the Assembly passed the resolution 
of impeachment. 

From the hour that I took my oath of office, down to 
the present time, I never had any doubt as to what I 
should do. All I wanted to be was honest; to do my 
duty for duty's sake ; and to make a clean record as Gov- 



THE GOVERNOR 431 

ernor. I told Mr. Murphy several times that I could 
succeed if he would leave me do what I knew was right ; 
but that I could not succeed if I was to be a cat's paw 
for him, and do what he wanted me to do. 

Mr. Murphy told me that he had it in his power to 
wreck my administration ; to throw me out of office ; and 
that if I did not stand by the ''organization" and do what 
he requested, he would throw me out. He said he could 
pass a resolution to impeach me ; that he had the votes 
in the Assembly ; and that he had absolute control of 
both branches of the Legislature. At first I did not take 
these threats seriously. I could not believe Mr. Murphy 
meant what he said. 

Through Mr. Murphy, and the people he sent to see 
me, everything which has been brought out by the Fraw- 
ley Committee, including the "Vermont fabrication" ; and 
the ''breach of promise frame-up" in Philadelphia, were 
used to frighten me and to coerce me. Besides, I was 
threatened with removal from office, and with personal 
disgrace, unless I did what Mr. Murphy wanted me to do. 
My efforts for truly progressive government were 
blocked by the refusal of the Murphy Legislature to let 
me install in office men capable and willing to work out 
progress. Some of my plans were thwarted by the 
treachery of men I trusted, who took "orders" from 
Mr. Murphy when I refused to take these "orders." 
Some other reforms I had undertaken, like the advance- 
ment of conservation along the lines advocated by you 
while you were President, and like the effective regula- 
tion of railroads through the Public Service Commis- 
sion, were never brought under way because Mr. Murphy 
planted his Legislature squarely across my path. I was 
blocked at every turn. 

Perhaps you will agree with me that the chief service 
done for the State by its present Governor was the ex- 
posure of the monumental frauds in the Highways and 
on the Canals. Some of the criminals exposed are on 



432 THE BOSS, OR 

their way to prison, and much of the vast plunder they 
made off with should be recovered by the State. But not 
one-tenth of that story of graft has yet been told. 

The reason why the revelations are only a fraction of 
the full sum is that Mr. Murphy, when he saw I meant 
to bring the thieves to justice, caused his Legislature to 
cut off every dollar of appropriations which could have 
been devoted to the apprehension of the criminals. 
Nearly all that has been done was achieved with funds 
furnished by Commissioner Hennessy, and patriotic citi- 
zens, from their own resources, and by me out of my 
own pocket. 

You, as a careful student of government, and as a 
former Governor of New York, are no doubt aware of 
the reforms which I succeeded in promoting in spite of 
the ownership of the Legislature by Mr. Murphy. 

In this connection let me remind you of the reorgani- 
zation, in the interest of thousands of workers, of the 
State Department of Labor ; of the scientific enlarge- 
ment of the archaic Department of Health ; of the saving 
of about $8,000,000 for the taxpayers which had been ex- 
travagantly appropriated by Mr. Murphy's Legislature; 
of the enactment of a Full Crew Law In the interest of 
safety in railroad operation ; of the laws to compel hon- 
esty in business transactions on the New York Stock Ex- 
change; of the working out of a scientific good-roads 
programme to take the place of the corrupt and chaotic 
scheme of higway construction ; of a business adminis- 
tration applied to the great canals instead of a plan to 
promote graft ; of the appointment of specialists^ and men 
of practical knowledge of their duties, to administer 
afifairs requiring expert ability ; of the elimination of 
fraud and gross inefficiency in the management of State 
Prisons, where unspeakable vlleness and disease have 
been promoted under the complacent administration of a 
Superintendent who took ''orders" from Mr. Murphy. 

My record thus far, as the Governor, tells its own 



THE GOVERNOR 



433 




;$?^^^^^' 



From the New York W orld. 

MURPHY SEEING THINGS. 



434 THE BOSS, OR 

story. God knows I have done my best, day in and day 
out, for the State. On the record I rest my case for my 
ultimate vindication against the vicious assaults on my 
character by Mr. Murphy. 

Some of the interviews with Mr. Murphy are burned 
in my memory because of his insolence to me and for 
the sordid brutality of his demands. I will not weary 
you with the details of the conversations when he called 
on me to withdraw the nomination of John Mitchell as 
Commissioner of Labor and to substitute the name of 
"The" McManus ; that I make GafTney Commissioner 
of Highways, and that I withdraw the nominations of 
Mr. Gibbs, for State Hospital Commissioner; Judge 
Riley, for Superintendent of State Prisons ; and call off 
Blake and Hennessy, who were after the grafters. This 
and other commands from the Boss — directly and indi- 
rectly — I firmly refused to carry out. He said John 
Mitchell was a Roosevelt man, and that he would defeat 
his confirmation. 

When I pleaded for an honest Direct Primary law, he 
said he would defeat my bill to fulfill the Democratic 
party's pledges to the people for Direct nominations. 
When I begged for a chance to make good he mocked 
me. When I told him he would wreck the Democratic 
party, and accomplish his own political destruction if 
he persisted in shielding grafters and violating platform 
pledges, his retort was that I did not know what I was 
talking about ; that the reformers were running me ; that 
he had been a fool not to demand promises from me at 
Syracuse; that he would destroy me if I did not do what 
he demanded. 

When I came back to Albany from New York City on 
April 13, I carefully considered my plight and the 
whole State situation. I had to choose between surren- 
dering to Mr. Murphy and doing what he wanted me to 
do, or resigning the cares and responsibilies of my of- 
fice, or fighting for what I knew was honest and right. 



THE GOVERNOR 435 

It did not take me long to determine not to surrender. 
I could not do that and maintain my future self-respect. 

However, I thought long and seriously about resign- 
ing the office — in fact, I wrote out and signed my resig- 
nation — but finally concluded not to resign, because it 
would be cowardly and in violation of my pledges to 
the people. 

Then I concluded to fight, and to fight hard, and I 
have been fighting ever since, all of which is pretty well 
known to some of the people — to my friends and enemies 
— and I know I have the most bitter enemies in the 
State. Every agency these enemies could use to destroy 
me has been used. It is a long, sad story, and I shall 
tell it all when I get a chance to do so. 

Many people believe that the troubles between Mr. 
Murphy and myself have arisen largely from disagree- 
ments regarding patronage, or appointments and re- 
movals from office. This is so to some extent. Many 
people believe that Mr. Murphy and I quarrelled on 
account of legislation which he wanted approved and 
which I disapproved. This is also true to some extent. 

However, the real trouble arose when I discovered, 
through agencies which I set at work, the tremendous 
frauds, and overwhelming corruption, existing in various 
departments of the State Government, by which a few 
politicians and contractors were robbing the taxpayers 
of millions and millions of dollars every year. When I 
discovered these frauds, and had the overwhelming proof 
of them submitted to me, I determined, as a matter of 
duty, to set in motion the machinery of justice, to bring 
the grafters to an accounting. 

This, and my fight for Direct Primaries, severed all 
relations between Mr. Murphy and myself, and marked 
me for political slaughter. It was a matter of self- 
preservation for Mr. Murphy and his grafting lieu- 
tenants. 

On Sunday, the 18th day of May, the New York 



436 THE BOSS, OR 

World published an interview with me regarding my 
fight for direct primaries. Mr. Murphy read this and 
accepted it as the final declaration of war. He sum- 
moned a few of his lieutenants to meet him at Delmon- 
ico's. The names of some of these men are known. 
This conference lasted practically all night, and it was 
finally agreed, that they had to *'get me," and that I must 
be removed from office for their safety and security and 
salvation. 

As one of the men present put it : "If we don't throw 
him out, he will throw us in." As another tersely ex- 
pressed it: 'Tf we don't get him, he will get us; it is 
his life, or ours." 

After this Delmonico conspiracy there were subsequent 
meetings of these men, and others, who were working 
night and day to get something against me to discredit 
me in the eyes of the people, or sufficient to prefer 
charges against me in the Assembly and thus remove me 
from of^ce. 

Every agency known to astute political conspirators 
was set in motion. My life was raked from the time I 
was born down to the present day by detectives, investi- 
gators, and various sleuths, with the object of finding 
out something that would injure me. Criminals and 
perjurers were utilized to defame me. I was hampered 
in my official duties, obstructed in the public work, and 
privately hounded, villified, denounced and threatened. 

The first thing the conspirators did in the plot to 
poison the public mind against me was to put out that 
''Vermont lie." I promptly told the truth about the mat- 
ter, and it fell flat. The document given to the news- 
papers by George M. Curtis was a forgery, and I have 
the proof to demonstrate it. Then came the Philadelphia 
''breach of promise frame-up." That also fell flat when 
I told the truth about it. 

In the meantime, the Frawley Committee got enlarged 
powers by the Thompson resolution, and was set dili- 



THE GOVERNOR 437 

gently to work with the aid of paid spies, informers, 
traitors, detectives and investigators to go into my per- 
sonal affairs, my family matters, and the details con- 
cerning my campaign for the Governorship. Some of 
these things are pretty well known to the public, but 
there is much to be told about them which I hope will 
come out during the trial — and I want all the facts to 
come out. 

Long ago, as I have said, I wanted to make a complete 
answer to the vicious and baseless charges of the Fraw- 
ley Committee ; tell everything I know ; but I was ad- 
vised against it. Many friends like you have counseled 
me to tell the whole story plainly, and bluntly, and hon- 
estly, and trust the people and take them into my confi- 
dence. I have always been anxious to tell the truth and 
hide nothing, and would have done so, only my counsel 
cautioned me against making any statement, or giving 
out any interview, concerning any matter in connection 
with the case, save the statement I gave out on the 11th 
of August. Naturally, I felt bound t© follow this advice, 
and hence have remained silent while everything has 
been said and done by my enemies to injure me, to 
blacken my character, to discredit me, and to disgrace 
me in the estimation of my fellow citizens. 

No one can conceive how I have suffered from these 
false and contemptible attacks, and how I have chafed 
under the restraint. But I have adhered to the advice 
of my counsel, notwithstanding the abuse which has 
been heaped upon me, and the lies which have been told, 
because I would not be a party to the Murphy system of 
looting the State. 

Colonel Roosevelt, my conscience is clear; I have 
done no wrong ; the truth will sooner or later prevail ; 
the taxpayers some day will know that because I would 
not be Murphy's marionette and his proxy Governor; 
that because I would not shut my eyes to the tremendous 
frauds on the highways and in the canals; that because 



438 THE BOSS, OR 

I would not even wink at them ; that because I began to 
expose them — that then Mr. Murphy and the men who 
have waxed fat within recent years, by reason of this 
stupendous graft, made up their minds to get me out of 
the office the people gave on election day. 

Let me hope that I have told you enough in this letter 
— already too long — to justify your conclusion, as writ- 
ten in your encouraging letter to me, that the attempt of 
Mr. Murphy to destroy me is because I am an obstacle 
in the way of the ''Boss" and a menace in office to the 
enemies of the public. It follows that Mr. Murphy has 
put me on trial not for anything I did before I became 
Governor, but for what I refused to do for Mr. Murphy, 
and for what I tried to do for the State, after I took my 
oath of office. 

The fate to which I have been condemned by ''The 
Leader" of Tammany Hall is meant by him to be a les- 
son, for all time, to men in public office who dare to 
serve the people, who have the courage to do their duty — 
a warning from the"Boss" to every public official in the 
State not to presume to set himself up between the 
Murphy band of plundering criminals and the taxpayers 
they despoil. 

Let the people consider their own interests first, and 
my constitutional rights secondly. I know they are both 
in jeopardy. 

No doubt you have read some of the reports of Com- 
missioners Blake and Hennessy about graft, which, 
cancer-like, is eating into the very vitals of the State. 
You know that Grand Juries have unearthed at the be- 
ginning of an inquiry into State-wide frauds on the high- 
ways and in the canals, thefts running into millions and 
millions of dollars. You know that when Mr. Hennessy 
speaks of Tammany's graft, and the size of the stealings, 
he does not exaggerate. My accusers are the founders, 
and the defenders, and the beneficiaries, of this system of 



THE GOVERNOR 439 

loot whose further success and existence now depend on 
the taking of my official life. 

There are men who know that I could defeat my mi- 
peachment if I would only consent to call off Mr. Hen- 
nessy and stop the wheels of the machinery of justice 
I have set in motion. I refused to listen to the tempters, 
and resolved to go forward with the work for decent 
citizenship and honest government— come weal or woe. 
Did I do right? Time will tell. At all events, I feel 
confident posterity will justify my stand for the right. 

If I were legally, or morally, guilty of a single breach 
of any law— which I affirm I am not— it would be the 
people of the State, in that event, who would in the end 
have to bear grimly the heavier punishment of my re- 
moval from office. They would have to suffer for my 
dereliction. But if I have done nothing more than make 
an unwitting mistake— easily explained— lacking even in 
moral turpitude, then the people ought to realize that if 
Mr. Murphy's conspiracy against the Governor of the 
State succeeds, it will mean a lasting blot on the fair 
fame and the good name of our Commonwealth. 
Faithfully your friend, 

WM. SULZER. 



440 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LXVni. 

SHALL WE DO OUR DUTY? 

Ex-Governor Sulzer's Speech Regarding State-wide 
Investigation of Graft. 

(From the New York Evening Mail, January 16, 1914.) 

Ex-Governor Sulzer delivered a notable speech in the 
Assembly last night in advocacy of the appointment 
of an Assembly committee, to carry on a state-wide in- 
vestigation of the state departments, which are known 
to be honeycombed with corruption. He spoke in part 
as follows : 

"Mr. Speaker, no man in this state knows more about 
graft than I do. No man in the history of our common- 
wealth has been a greater victim than I have been to the 
corruption which to-day honeycombs the departments of 
the state. 

All Crooks Look Alike to the Taxpayers. 

'Tn this matter of getting the grafters there should 
be no politics. Politics should rise above graft. Poli- 
tics should be manly. Politics should be honest. Poli- 
tics should be based upon great principles. There should 
be no politics in corruption. All crooks look'aHke to the 
taxpayers. 

"Only last night the leader of the minority, of the co- 
ordinate branch of the legislature, made a charge against 
a former Governor of mutilating a law to facilitate po- 
litical graft. It was in regard to the graft on this capi- 
tol. I have no hesitancy in saying that an investigation. 



THE GOVERNOR 441 

instituted by me, showed that hundreds of thousands 
of dollars were stolen from the moneys appropriated 
for the renovation of this Capitol. 
' "Could I bring these grafters to justice? No. And 
yet there is on record the overwhelming proof of the 
thefts of these moneys. 

$6,000,000 Stolen in One Year, on Highways. 

"So on the canals and in the state prisons. I shall be 
brief, because this is not the time to go into details re- 
garding the thefts in the highways ; but evidence in the 
possession of investigators I instructed to find out the 
facts, shows that over six millions of dollars of the tax- 
payers' money was stolen on the highways in the year 
of 1912. 

"So on the canals and the state prisons. Thousands, 
and hundreds of thousands of dollars of the taxpayers' 
money have been stolen. 

"So in several other departments of the state govern- 
ment — corruption cold, and cynical, and calculating. Cor- 
ruption that saps the very foundation of the state ; cor- 
ruption that cancer-like is eating into the vitals of the 
body-politic ; corruption that staggers the taxpayer, and 
makes the decent citizen hold his head in shame. 

"One of our great editors, no less a man than Col. 
Henry Watterson, of the Louisville Courier-Journal, has 
said that the people of the State of New York are in- 
capable of self-government. I cannot rest, as a citizen 
of this state, under that indictment. Speaking for my 
constituency, I say that it is the duty of every member 
of this House to favor an investigation of graft that 
shall be state-wide in its scope and character; that shall 
go to the bottom ; that shall be a probe and not a cover ; 
and that shall shield no one. 



442 THE BOSS, OR 

Separate Sheep From The Goats. 

"Let us separate the sheep from the goats. Let us 
find out who are the honest men and who are the thieves. 
Let us be bold enough, and brave enough, and honest 
enough, to spare no one who is guilty. When these re- 
ports came to me, as Governor, through my investiga- 
tors, one of them told me, "This will hit one of your 
friends ; this will send him to prison ; do you want me 
to go on?' I answered, 'Yes, go on, go on to the end; 
spare no one who is guilty. If my brother were guilty 
of robbing the taxpayers I would prosecute him.' We 
went on, and the grand jury indicted one of my friends. 
We went on, and the petit jury convicted him. And so 
in every case where these frauds were presented to 
grand juries, there were indictments, and in every case 
where indictments have been brought to petit juries, con- 
victions have followed. 

"We only had an opportunity, for reasons you know, 
to go into twenty-two counties in the highway graft, 
but we have proofs, overwhelming proofs, of frauds 
in these twenty-two counties ; and I know, and I speak 
advisedly when I say, that the corruption in most of the 
other counties is as bad as in these twenty-two. 

Great Effort to Cover up Crime. 

"Every efifort is being made to cover up the crimes. 
Every influence is being brought to bear to shield the 
criminals. Men in high positions are doing all they can, 
morning, noon and night, to protect the grafters who 
ought to be in prison for the crimes they have com- 
mitted against the state, and the depredations they have 
made upon the pockets of the honest taxpayers. 

"The people are beginning to find out what some have 
known all along, that if I had consented to obey the 
'Boss' and connive at the frauds on the taxpayers, my 



THE GOVERNOR 443 

tenure as Governor would be safe, and the grafters 
would have made no effort to remove me from the Gov- 
ernorship. However, my unconstitutional removal from 
the office of Governor was a blessing in disguise to the 
taxpayers, In this struggle for honest government 
some one had to be sacrificed, and if my sacrifice will 
accomplish the results the citizens desire, and hasten the 
reforms the people demand, I am content. 

**Let me say now, because I do not want to repeat it, 
that I am here as an independent representative. In 
the struggle for honest government I hold no brief for 
any party. More Republicans voted for me than Demo- 
crats; and more Democrats voted for me than Progres- 
sives; and every Progressive in my district voted for 
' me. I am here to do right as a citizen Assemblyman. 
I am here to tell the truth; and before this Assembly 
adjourns I hope to tell the truth; and the truth will 
make William Sulzer again Governor. 

Makes Declaration of Independence. 

"I shall vote here with the Republicans when I be- 
lieve the Republicans are right; I shall vote here with 
the Progressives when I believe the Progressives are 
right; and I shall vote here with the Democrats when I 
believe the Democrats are right. As Lincoln said, I am 
bound to stand with those who are right; stand with 
them so long as they are right; and part from them 
when they go wrong. That is my position here, and 
that is all there is to my membership in this Assembly. 

"To-day I want to tell you that it is impossible for 
the District Attorneys to carry on these investigations. 
They have no money to do it, and they cannot get the 
money from the County Boards of Supervisors. These 
frauds are state frauds; these thefts are state thefts. 
The investigation is a state matter, and no man here can 
dodge it. If he dodges it he is a marked man. 



444 . THE BOSS, OR 

A Different Assembly. 

"This is a different Assembly from that of last year. 
A new Speaker presides. The old faces are not here. 
The faces that laughed at the taxpayers ; that defied 
public sentiment ; that carried out the 'orders' of the 
unseen government ; that impeached the Governor be- 
cause the Governor refused to do wrong; where are 
they ? They are gone hence ; their outraged constitu- 
ents kept them home. 

''So, unless we — their successors — arise to the oppor- 
tunies the voters have given us ; unless we meet like men 
the responsibilities now devolving upon us ; unless we 
have the courage to go forward, for honest government, , 
without fear and without favor, come weal or come woe, 
the next Assembly will be as different from this, as this 
Assembly is from the one last year. 

"This is the time that tries men's souls. The people 
want a committee of real men to conduct these graft 
investigations. As the poet said: 

"God give us men ! A time like this demands 

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands. 

Men whom the lusts of office do not kill ; 

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; 

Men who possess opinions and a will ; 

Men who have honor — men who will not lie; 

Men who can stand before a demagogue, 

And face his treacherous flatteries without winking; 

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog, 

In public duty, and in private thinking; 

For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds. 

Their large professions and their little deeds, 

Mingle in selfish strife. Lo! Goodness weeps. 

Wrong rules the land, and waiting JUSTICE sleeps." 

"They say I know public sentiment. I know the work- 



THE GOVERNOR 445 

ings of the average mind, and I know there is no power 
on earth so potent as an aroused and an outraged citi- 
zenship. The citizens of the State of New York are 
more determined to-day to go to the bottom of these 
gigantic frauds, and find out about these tremendous 
thefts than they ever were about anything that con- 
cerned the welfare of the state since the dark days of 
the War for the Union. 

"The time has come for us to decide between right and 
wrong, between justice and injustice. The Assembly 
must investigate these frauds on the taxpayers of the 
State — frauds running into millions and millions of dol- 
lars. We must do our duty. We must select a commit- 
tee that will go forth and clean out the Augean Stables ; 
root out the graft ; and destroy iniquity. That is the 
way to do this work ; and unless we do it so that the 
people shall have confidence in our work ; and unless 
the committee meets the just expectations of the citizens, 
we shall fail to do our duty. Now is the time for us 
to act. 

''Once to every man and nation, 

Comes the moment to decide. 

In the strife of truth with falsehood, 

For the good or evil side; 

Some great cause, God's new Messiah, 

Giving each the bloom or blight, 

Parts the goats upon the left hand, 

And the sheep upon the right, 

And the choice goes by forever, 

*Twixt the darkness and the the light. 

"The time is here for us to decide between the darkness 
and the light — ^between the wrong and the right. The 
question is 'Shall we do our duty? Shall we go forward, 
or sit here, marking time, while the decent people of 
the state point at us the finger of scorn?''' 



44G THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LXIX. 

THE COURT OF LAST RESORT! 

What Is Justice in New York? 
The Sulzer Case and the Becker Case. 

(Editorial from the Auburn Citizen, March 1, 1914.) 

"There can be no question that Senators Frawley, 
Ramsperger, Wagner, Brown, Thompson, and Sanner 
had formed and expressed an opinion on every article of 
impeachment," declared Judge Herrick in the Suizer 
trial. "The injustice and impropriety of these Senators 
sitting as judges is apparent to all." 

Judge Herrick further contended that all the mem- 
bers of the Court should be uncontaminated by the 
slightest bias, and showed that these Senators had con- 
tinued their role of prosecutors even after the articles' 
of impeachment had been jammed through the Assem- 
bly. He cited many authorities and pointed out, more- 
over, that the rules adopted by the impeachment court, 
those of Supreme Court, precluded these Senators from 
sitting because the Supreme Court rules provide that 
no person could ACT BOTH AS PROSECUTOR 
AND JUDGE ! 

The seven members of the Court of Appeals to whom 
the people of the State looked for the safeguarding of 
all our cherished notions of fair play sat unmoved with 
the Tammany Senators comprising the Court of Im- 
peachment ! 

HERE IS A POINT ON THE CANDOR OF 
WHICH NO MA^ CAN DIFFER. IS IT FAIR 



THE GOVERNOR 447 

THAT MEN WHO HAVE DUG UP THE EVI- 
DENCE, WHO HAVE PREPARED THE CASE, 
WHO HAVE HAULED YOU BEFORE THE BAR, 
SHALL THEN TAKE SEATS UP WITH THE 
JUDGES AND BE PERMITTED TO SIT IN 
JUDGMENT? IS THERE ANYTHING MORE 
ATROCIOUS AND REVOLTING TO THE AVER- 
AGE MAN'S NOTION OF DECENCY? THE 
SEVEN JUDGES MADE NO PROTEST. THEY 
LOST NO TIME IN WAVING ASIDE JUDGE 
HERRICK'S CONTENTION, A CONTENTION AS 
SOUND IN MORALS, LAW AND ETHICS AS 
THE GOLDEN RULE, AND ONE THAT WILL 
SOME DAY BE THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE IN 
EVERY COURT IN THE REPUBLIC! 

GOVERNOR SULZER WAS OUSTED FROM 
HIS OFFICE BY ONLY TWO VOTES. IT FOL- 
LOWS THAT IF ANY TWO OF THESE BIASED 
AND PREIUDICED TAMMANY SENATORS HAD 
REFRAINED FROM VOTING MR. SULZER 
WOULD STILL BE GOVERNOR. 

Now look at the Becker case ! Reviewing the Becker 
case this same Court writes: 'The defendant certainly 
was entitled to a fair and impartial trial, where nothing 
should be done to prejudice his case." 

In another criticism of the trial the Court says : "Haste 
seemed to become the essence of the trial. Some of the 
adverse rulings passed beyond the limits of discretion, 
while others tended unnecessarily to embarrass the de- 
fendant's counsel. The conduct of the trial was grossly 
unfair to the defendant." 

Isn't it queer that the highest court in the State is 
so keen to safeguard the rights of Charles Becker that, 
by such an overwhelming vote, six to one, the judges 
grant him a new trial? 

Were they as keen, however, to safeguard the rights 
of Governor William Siilzer? 



448 THE BOSS, OR 

Who believes that the Court of Impeachment, in al- 
lowing the prejudiced Senators to sit, gave William Sul- 
zer the same kind of justice that the Court of Appeals 
gives to Charles Becker? 

Were these Judges unable to guarantee to William 
Sulzer *'a fair and impartial trial?" 

Was not "haste the essence of the Sulzer trial," as 
well as of the Assembly impeachment proceedings? 

Did not "the adverse rulings pass beyond the limits 
of discretion" and did they not palpably deny the prin- 
ciple of justice that the judge shall not be the prosecutor 
when William Sulzer was tried? 

WHY WAS SULZER LYNCHED? WHY WAS 
BECKER GRANTED A NEW TRIAL? ASK THE 
SYSTEM. 

The trial of William Sulzer is going to enter very 
deeply into future events in this State. The people no 
longer are in the frame of mind where they must be 
convinced that no injustice can be done under the law. 
They are satisfied it can be done. Watch the reform 
of the courts that the next decade has in store! 

The "System" never sleeps at the switch. It is time 
for the people to know that. We have been told of the 
Delmonico Conference to oust Governor Sulzer from 
office. Some people have called it the Delmonico 
Conspiracy against Sulzer. The "System" worked rap- 
idly after that. Lawyers — crafty and clever and cun- 
ning — as well as scores of detectives were employed — 
and paid out of the pockets of the taxpayers. What 
for? To get Sulzer. Among the lawyers retained by 
the Murphy gang was former Chief Judge Alton B. 
Parker, of the Court of Appeals. What for? Well, a 
short time after Parker invited the Judges of the Court 
of Appeals to be his guests, at his country place, in 
Esopus, on the Hudson. What for? Well, if Parker 
would tell the truth about it, in the language of the 



THE GOVERNOR 449 

late Horace Greeley — "the same would make mighty in- 
teresting reading." 

Then the manner in which the Assembly adopted the 
impeachment resolution, so plainly unconstitutional that 
no intelligent citizen will concede that such action could 
have been legal, discredited courts notwithstanding; the 
apparently illegal composition of the Court of Impeach- 
ment, the sitting of the Frawley gang of impeachers in 
the trial court, and many other glaring violations of our 
traditional notions of justice, surely warrant the conclu- 
sion of the illegality of the whole proceeding. 

Mr. Sulzer promptly appealed to the United States 
Supreme Court from the judgment of Ouster of "Mur- 
phy's Court of Infamy.'' The case was submitted to the 
Court of Appeals early in the year with the hope of a 
speedy determination, so that the case could be argued 
ere the Summer adjournment, in the United States Su- 
preme Court. If it could not be argued in the Spring 
Term of the United States Supreme Court, then it had 
to go over until late in the Fall, and the case could not 
be decided until Mr. Sulzer's term of office expired. 

Why did the Court of Appeals refuse to decide this 
case, one way or the other, especially in view of the 
fact that it could quickly dismiss the case, or affirm the 
decision of the lower courts? 

The lawyers, and the "Friends of Justice," of the 
country are discussing the matter, and are wondering 
why the Court of Appeals delayed a decision in this 
case. Was it because the Judges of the Court of Ap- 
peals are doubtful of the decisions they made in the 
Court of Impeachment? Was it for fear of a reversal 
in the United States Supreme Court? Did they deliber- 
ately delay the Sulzer case so that the United States 
Supreme Court could not decide it until after Sulzer's 
term of office expired? 

Do not forget that a delay of justice is a denial of jus- 



450 THE BOSS, OR 

tice. In a speech in Congress, years ago, Mr. Sulzer 
said: 

"An injustice to one is the concern of all. If I am 
the victim of injustice to-day, who knows, but you may 
be the victim of injustice to-morrow." 

Why did the Judges of the Court of Appeals refuse 
justice to Governor Sulzer? Some day you shall know. 
Some day the truth will all come out. 

We ought to have the opinion of the United States 
Supreme Court in the Sulzer case so that when the next 
constitution of New York is drafted the delegates will 
have the most complete information at hand to pre- 
vent another criminal conspiracy of political bosses from 
throwing out a Governor, because he dared to oppose the 
further looting of the State, and because he dared to 
defy their will. Our revised constitution must be no 
Murphy document. 



THE GOVERNOR 451 



CHAPTER LXX. 

WHY MR. SULZER DID NOT TESTIFY IN THE 
MURPHY COURT. 

Some of Mr. Sulzer's critics have asked why he did 
not testify during the trial. We are glad to answer that 
question. If we have not made it clear thus far in this 
book, we want to make it clear now. 

Mr. Sulzer, on the merits, had an absolute defence to 
the "framed-up charges" of Mr. Murphy. His defense 
was carefully gone over by his lawyers, and it was 
agreed that he should take the stand, and they knew the 
revelations he would make would startle the state, from 
end to end, and bring about the Governor's complete 
vindication. Tammany knew this. 

Mr. Sulzer's defence is well set forth in the admirable 
letter he wrote to Col. Theodore Roosevelt. When Mr. 
Sulzer received the letter from Col. Roosevelt he care- 
fully wrote out, his answer. This answer was sent to 
the Colonel, and he was so pleased with Mr. Sulzer's 
complete defence that he asked to give it publicity, say- 
ing to the Governor, and to several friends, that if he. 
Col. Roosevelt, were permitted to make public use of 
the letter, it would win the case. 

It must not be forgotten, however, that Governor 
Sulzer had promised his lawyers, that under no cir- 
cumstances, would he take any official action ; or write 
any letters for publication ; or give out any interviews 
to the newspapers, regarding his case and the defense, 
without their approval. Mr. Sulzer's lawyers were in- 
sistent on this, and the Governor conscientiously kept 
his word. 



452 THE BOSS, OR 

It has been shown very conclusively, we believe, thus 
far, that the lawyers for Mr. Sulzer endeavored to lay 
the foundation for the Governor's testimony by calling 
as witnesses in his behalf, Samuel A. Beardsley ; John A. 
Hennessey; John N. CarHsle ; George W. Blake, and 
several others. The Alurphy members of the Murphy 
court knew the object of this procedure, and voted to 
exclude this testimony. 

When these witnesses were called, and the purpose of 
their testimony disclosed, the Murphy court promptly 
went into secret session, behind closed doors, and by a 
majority vote excluded the testimony, although it was 
material, and competent, and essential to the Governor's 
defence. 

When this was done it was apparent that the ]\Iurphy 
court would also exclude the testimony of Governor 
Sulzer relating to the difficulties he had with Mr. Mur- 
phy, and the real reasons why ]\Ir. Murphy was endeav- 
oring to remove him from office. Hence it was con- 
cluded that in no way, as the court w^as constituted, 
could the Governor's testimony be presented. H he had 
taken the stand, he would have been unable to present 
his side of the case, as the court w^as "packed" against 
him, and had ruled out all testimony in his favor. Of 
course the court would have ruled out the Governor's 
testimony. 

There was another reason why Mr. Sulzer did not 
take the stand. From the beginning the Governor 
claimed that the court was without jurisdiction; un- 
constitutional ; and its proceedings null and void. He 
refused to recognize the court as a legal tody com- 
petent to try him. He stood squarely on the law, and 
his constitutional rights. The Governor never entered 
the Murphy court room. He never subjected himself to 
the jurisdiction of the Murphy court, except through his 
lawyers who appeared for the purpose of raising certain 



THE GOVERNOR 453 

constitutional objections to the formation of the court 
and to its jurisdiction. 

At all events the Governor did not go into the Mur- 
phy court, and those familiar with the case, looking back 
over it all, believe he was entirely justified, and that if 
he had taken the stand his testimony, like that of his 
witnesses, would have been ruled out by the Tammany 
Court, and the result would have been just the same. 

We leave it to the reader to judge whether or not, all 
things considered, the Governor did not do right. Say 
what you will, the impartial reader of these pages must 
irresistibly come to the conclusion that Tammany had 
the votes in the Court at all times to exclude his testi- 
mony and remove him; and that Tammany by hook and 
crook succeeded. Tammany sowed the wind, and Tam- 
many reaped the whirlwind. 



454 THE BOSS, OR 



CHAPTER LXXI. 
WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT? 

The work of William Sulzer is not finished. As he 
said when Murphy's court removed him: "My fight for 
honest government has just begun." The people of New 
York are with him in the fight. 

The people of the State have rallied to the support 
of the Sulzer Cause — the cause of honest government — 
and the fight will go on until it triumphs. The cause of 
honest government — for which Mr. Sulzer fought, and 
for which he was sacrificed — is a far greater issue than 
the question of Sulzer — but Mr. Sulzer is the man to 
lead the fight. 

The people of New York will never forget Sulzer ; and 
they will not forget that the power that removed Sulzer 
might be used to remove another Sulzer — who dared to 
be free — who dared to be honest. That power must be 
destroyed. 

The fight for honest government must go on. Wm. 
Sulzer is playing his part well, and his race is not yet 
run. From the watch towers he sounds the alarm. He 
is the leader. The great living issue he typifies and rep- 
resents, pulsating with the life blood of humanity, will 
go forward until a cleaner and purer day arrives in the 
political life of New York. 

The unseen government is doomed. Invisible govern- 
ment has had its day. The people at last are awake to 
the fact that ballots are only respectable when they 
represent convictions. The day is forever past when 
men will blindly go to the polls to register the wishes 
of a political boss under the threat of regularity. 



THE GOVERNOR 455 

The time has arrived when the people demand that 
every party, and every Boss of a party, must halt on 
the frontier of their political approval before they shall 
be allowed to advance. 

Eternal vigilance is the price of our liberties. Prog- 
ress is the watchword of humanity. He who would 
attempt to stop the wheels of progress is doomed to de- 
feat. The night of party slavery has been long; some- 
times it has seemed as if the day would never come ; but 
at last the morning light of the brighter day shines 
through the darkest clouds of night, and hope is renewed. 
As Wm. Sulzer cried out in the Assembly in his last 
great speech for honest government: 

'T shall not rest till my work is done, 

"And the people are satisfied. 
"So toil I must till the set of sun, 

"Lest the hire be denied. 

"And so till the set of the sun toil on, 
"And, Oh soul of mine, be true; 

"Till the grand reward and the glory's won, 
"And the cause shall triumph too." 

These words of our leader ring true. We must re-echo 
them. We must not rest till our work is done — till the 
grand reward and the glory's won. We must fight like 
Sulzer fights; and if we do, the victory over corruption 
will be ours. 

America is America. The ideals of true Americanism 
are coming to the front. The old regime is passing away. 
The people demand social justice, economic freedom, and 
civil and religious liberty. Our free institutions must 
and shall be preserved. Thieves have been rioting 
in the rich reward of treason, but by the living God, they 
have gone too far. 

Wm. Sulzer, our watchman, sounds the slogan; the 



456 THE BOSS, OR 

sleeping commonwealth leaps to its feet, to sleep no more, 
until the cause of Sulzer and of honest government tri- 
umphs; until the conspiracy of graft is destroyea ; until 
corrupt bossism is annihilated; and until every political 
rascal is driven from the public life of the State. 

Brave and honest Wm. Sulzer has played his part well. 
New York owes him a debt it can never pay. He has 
shown the people the dangers with which they are beset. 
He is the Watchman of the Night. He must lead us in 
the fight in the future as he has led us in the past. He 
has been the friend of the plain people, and the honest 
folk of the State will follow him wherever he leads. 



THE END. 



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